Maryland comes in on a hot streak. They’ve won 4 in a row, 6 of their last 7, with their only loss during that period being the Jan 27 loss to Duke. Vasquez and Gist have been on fire, with Vasquez being named by ESPN as Player of the Week for his stat lines against BC and NC State. With 2 and a half weeks to further learn and study each other for this rematch – who will win out? Who can adjust better?
The first few possessions don’t look so hot. Henderson with a short jumper doesn’t go, Paulus off a curl can’t hit, and Singler gets blocked. But we are making it look like 7 on 5 on defense, with Nelson and LT trying to steal every pass in sight, and a great Henderson BLOCK! turns into a fastbreak for us, with Nelson smartly whipping it out to Greg on the 3 point line for the TRIPLE!!!!!!!! 6-2! Great transition three, as they were playing Nelson for the dunk. Then – offensive charge drawn by Lance Thomas! We’re on a roll, baby! (Dickie V is in the house – can you tell?) Ugh, then they block another shot, Thomas’s this time, but Singler taps the rebound out to Paulus, who picks up the gift and immediately lets it fly – MONEY! 8-2, baby!!! 16:45, and Gary Williams needs a timeout! They can’t rebound for s***!
Long outlet pass to Henderson, who streaks into the lane all alone, going for the dunk – oh, but FOULED by Osby! The rim rattles with the confrontation, but Henderson shakes it off and nails both free throws. He’s wearing a black wrist band on his right shooting wrist, with straps that looks like he was involved in the filming of the Matrix sequels. Hey, Zoubek is in! And right off the bat, he challenges Gist for a shot and makes it go awry. Awesome! Singler’s demonstrating a great touch, first with a midrange jumper, then with a runner in the lane off the glass. His threes, though, are way off. And boy, is Maryland blocking our every shot. 4th block already?
4 guards out on the floor right now, with Singler the only one over 6’5”: Paulus, Scheyer, Hendo, and Nelson. Can we play their frontline with 4 guards? Singler tries to thread a pass inside to Nelson but it gets picked off. Scheyer tries a drive, but Osby comes over and challenges his shot, forcing it to rim out. The lead is down to a precarious 15-13, and just as I’m bracing for another nail-biting first half – PAULUS FOR THREE!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, way to go, GREG!! That’s a huge shot right there, making it 18-13. 10:40. They answer with Osby – but 6 seconds later, we answer right back with another three – this time, it’s SINGLER!!!!!!!!!!!! Left all alone on the perimeter! And he’s starting to shoot like King too – a foot or two beyond the 3 point arc, doesn’t blink, just sights up the basket and shoots. 21-15 in a hurry. They answer with another 2 point jumper. Okay. Paulus shrugs off a random foul in the backcourt, walks up the ball, gets a screen from McClure – and lets fly another three. AND IT HITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 24-17!!!!!! DAMN!!!!!!!!!! We can trade 2s for 3s all night long! Just say the word! Mr. Limits-Clubs-to-31%-from-Long-Range Maryland – heh.
And as they walk the ball back downcourt – the house just shakes with adrenaline, everybody jumping up and down, hollering – and the Maryland team looks like they don’t know what hit them – they’re making every shot, every shot, yet the lead’s grown to 7 in the blink of an eye. They are quickly realizing, too, that trading 2s for 3s is a winless scenario, that with Duke’s smallest and largest player on the court equally deadly from 3 point range, their size advantage on defense is also negated. And if they drag out their biggest players to defend on the perimeter, that’ll open up shots for our slashers and drivers inside. DeMarcus Nelson and Gerald Henderson are just licking their chops at the second they decide to do that, and open the lane back up for business. Classic deer-in-the-headlights look right there. Hey Gary! Maybe you wanna call another timeout? Share your thoughts on this phenomenon? 9:33.
Baseline drive by Hayes, seemingly all alone into the paint – and Nelson skies for the BLOCK! Great anticipation to get up in the air like that when it looked like Hayes had beaten everyone into the lane. Singler looses the handle on the drive to Gist – his 3rd turnover? King comes in for Kyle, and he has all kinds of trouble guarding Gist, who misses more point-blank shots than I can count, but keeps getting his own miss back, and trying again, until King ties him up – and is called for the foul. So far, though, this dude who scorched us for 26 in the last meeting has been pretty quiet.
Oh, MCCLURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Runaway DUNK! He flat-out made Osby look like a drive-through window! Wow! Troy is out on the perimeter, Osby is on him, he tries to body-check Troy but quickly pulls back both hands to show his repentance, and then Troy just zooms by him, hopping into the lane, and by the time they realize that he intends to shoot it is all over, he’s gone, and the ball thunderously rattling into the hoop. And it’s 28-18, just like that!!!! “Aww, you can’t let McClure take you one on one, and then no one rotates over!” Dickie V is livid at MD. 7:56.
Great steal by D-Marc, gets it to Paulus even though he’s fallen to the ground, Henderson passes to King right underneath the basket – but Osby blocks him!!! ARGHHHHH! But oh . . how to make them pay! A screener comes, nobody stays with Kyle, and it’s gone – ANOTHER THREE!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 of 11 so far from downtown by the team!!! And the Cameron Crazies give him a standing ovation, as one after another stands up, clapping, the cheerleaders twirling – this is a legend in the making. And Kyle just trots off to the other end, ready to get back on D, no fanfare on his part – it’s just too easy! And as they pan to our freshman sensation, Dickie V warns the rest of the teams out there that “he looks like he’s staying in college, there’s no NBA interest in his body.” Music to our ears, Dickie V! 35-22, 4:13.
Ah, thanks so much, Brian Zoubek! Our 7 footer sets a solid screen for Greg that sends Vasquez sprawling to the floor. But, all kidding aside – that Vasquez kid is really good at setting up his teammates, running the floor, and passing off to his bigger teammates, especially Gist, who made Singler reach for the steal, only to go crashing onto the floor as he got up an uncontested shot. That’s the Maryland that scares me – fast on the break, then able to go down low to Osby or Gist when they go to halfcourt. But Singler eases all worries with yet another three, this time from the corner – nothing but net, baby! You leave me open, you’re gonna pay every time. 3 of 6 so far for him!!! 41-30 at the half. Boy, that’s a cute stuffed turtle they’re torturing amongst the Crazies crowd!
Second half: Duke has now gotten somewhat of a reputation as a strong second-half team, and we again show it here – two steals on the first two Maryland possessions right off the bat! First, Nelson with a crazy move inside, walled in by an army of defenders and giving that classic “oh!” as he almost looses the handle, but manages to get it back and turns to toss it up strong. Then, we strip the entry pass to Osby. On the next possession, G makes off with another poor pass, and Singler tries a 7 footer, it bounces off the rim, we’re able to snatch the offensive rebound, Nelson drives – then kicks out to Kyle way out in the corner, and – HA! SINGLER BABY!! Just NAILS another trifecta from the corner – that’s his favorite spot! Right in front of the Duke bench! Gary looks like he’s just swallowed a turd. Immediately calls a timeout. I mean, he sure as hell can’t do anything else. Can’t go out and help his team guard Singler. Can’t assign a double team to him because of all our other scoring threats. And in a game full of mismatches, it’s up to whichever team can execute better. And right now, that’s Duke. 46-30, only 1 minute gone!
So Maryland finally decides to make a game of it. They’ve had it with their coach and his yelling. Vasquez is single-handedly leading his team on, and his teammates are responding. Look at him – screaming, slapping the floor! Hey kid – isn’t that what you hated about Duke? Paulus drives and looses it out of bounds. Nelson drives and looses it out of bounds. Boy, they’re really neutralizing Henderson and his power moves – Nelson too. Neither one of our slashers can create, because they’re repeatedly being met by a WALL of defenders, all looming to either alter or block their shot. Thank God we can kick out for 3s, huh? Just as I say that . . Nelson misses from downtown. Paulus misses. Scheyer misses. And what’s up with the no-calls? Henderson takes a charge but it’s not called. Singler tries to stop Vasquez on one of his trademark wild drives and both players go down, to nary a peep from the whistles. Uh, refs? Can we please solicit your opinion on these two last plays? Are they fouls or not? Just because Maryland is down 16 and now down 11 does not mean you need to give them all the help they need.
OH, PAULUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “Paulus with the ANSWER!” They’d just cut the lead down to 6, 46-40, off a Neal three, and we had botched up our last string of possessions to no field goals for about 4 minutes. Then Paulus sends the ball inside to Singler, who kicks it back out, and he just goes up for the three – and hits!! BIG TIME right there. Off the make, we double-team and trap their backcourt, and – they fling the pass straight to Gerald, who lobs it forward to Nelson, already gone – who DUNKS!!!!!!!!!!! Boy, we needed that! “[Duke’s] hard enough to beat without giving them all the easy ones!” 51-40! 14:44.
Hmmm. Hayes throws down a great three of his own, and that quiets the crowd down somewhat. But this team has gotten so good at stuffing the other team’s pipe dreams right back down where it came from, it’s scary. Paulus knows exactly what to do. I mean, it’s not like Gary Williams is blind. Paulus and Singler were 9 for 15 in the first half, while the rest of the team was 3 for 15. Shut down P and S, and supposedly, you shut down this high-octane Duke offense – right? That’s a nice idea – on paper. On the court, it looks something like this: Paulus walks the ball up, flipping through 43 different options on the set plays in his book, comes to set play #35, likes it, yells something to his teammates, gets a screen from Singler, drives left, gets both defenders to go chasing after him like squirrels, penetrates enough to get all manner of big bodies to jump up to meet him – and then – haha! – says “gotcha!” and reverse-passes out to Kyle Singler, who steps right up to the 3 point line with his entire sight line open in front of him and just drills the 3. You know it by now: “OH, WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!” He was WIDE OPEN on the 3! I mean, you could’ve parked a double-wide Hummer in front of him and the closest defender, and still had room for a tailgate! Jesus Christ! I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!! “He’s a 36% three-pointer shooter,” Mike Patrick gropes and finds his jaw from the floor, “but he’s 60% on the night!” As they pan to an exasperated Gary Williams, just speechless after that play, Dick Vitale reminds us of Gary’s own words at halftime: “We have to concentrate, and contain, Singler and Paulus shooting the three.” Good job, Gary! Really working out for ya so far! “Who’s made the last two? Paulus, and Singler.” “Exactly.” 54-43, 14:11.
So now Vasquez must resort to extreme measures, and pulls an Eric Maynor on Paulus, just hounding him in the backcourt. Henderson is inbounding the ball, Vasquez is pushing and shoving Paulus in every which way, steals the ball away, and runs off scoot-free. Okay. He then takes about 8 shots all by himself, including a wild runner against a staunch Singler that bounces wildly away and makes the announcers say “Huh? What was that???” Oh, and right in front of the Duke bench – Paulus is trying to take the ball off Singler’s hands and Vasquez just dogs him to no end, arm-wrestling him it seems, snatching his jersey and trying to trip him up and in general mugging Paulus in full view of the officials with nary a sound from their whistles. I mean, really – the officials tonight would much rather watch reruns of The Love Boat than call a foul on Super-Vasquez. Even Mike Patrick is livid! “I really find it hard to believe, that Vasquez was not called for a hold!” As the ball sails out of bounds on a desperate pass to Scheyer. Another turnover. Our lead is down to 5, 54-49, with 11:41 remaining.
Nolan is in for Greg, as Osby muscles in a ball to cut the lead to 3. Hmmm, Henderson is trying very hard, but just can’t seem to get to the rim in the right posture, and the shot rims out. Vasquez, aware that he can take all the glory and headlines with a 3 to tie the game, spots up about 3 feet out to launch the three – and misses badly. Classic Dickie V, as he ribs him: “He’s trying to shoot too many jumpers, not passing to anybody! Let that ball touch some people!”
OH, NELSON! GREAT defensive play on the switch inside as he just knocks that ball loose from what was seemly a runaway layup. Both teams are deadlocked at 54-51, nobody can score, and the defense is solid on both ends of the court. And just as Patrick notes that Duke has gone more than 5 minutes without a field goal – again – Paulus gets all the way into the lane, looks for all intents and purposes to shoot that ball, he was maybe 2 feet away – but his point guard instincts kick in, and he expertly lobs it out to Scheyer, who hits for THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my God, how we needed that! From the Duke corner! YES! 57-51!
Oh no, I spoke too fast. Vasquez with a runner, 57-53, then with 8:20 still remaining Paulus decides to initiate stallball, runs the clock down to 13, circles into the lane only to kick out to DeMarcus, who drives but, as he and Henderson has discovered all night long – just completely gets met by an immovable WALL, throws up an “oh!” as he looses his balance, and the ball doesn’t even get off for a shot before its picked off by the Terps. On the other end – Gist dunks – and suddenly it’s a 2 point game. 57-55, 7:53. S***! Duke calls a timeout.
Paulus tries a running 3 off the timeout, to no avail. Our 3 point shooting is now off its sugar high. LT with a block on the other end, they get it back, but they can’t hit it. And then? Who else? Oh, Oh, Oh – Singler!! Baseline drive, his body laced with emotion and determination, just knows he can beat his man and does it with speed and a smoothness that belies the surprise of Gist rotating over, laying it in with just a hint of a snarl. 59-55.
“ACC-olades”: ESPN shows a chart that’s pretty damn amazing. 24 of 55 ACC games so far has been decided by 2 points or fewer, or going into OT, with 10 OT games so far, nearly a record! (the record is 11) And what do you know, 6 of those games are courtesy of good ol’ Carolina, while Duke has been untouched! No one’s been within 9 points of Duke at the end of regulation, nor has had a lead on us with at least 4:55 left to play – yet SIX times Carolina has found itself in a sweat in the endgame! That would be at Clemson, at GT, vs Maryland (loss), at Florida State, vs Clemson, and at Virginia. Way to convince everybody you’re supposed to be the best in the league, huh, guys? Digger?
Holy LORD! Singler with ANOTHER THREE!!!!!! This time someone is actually guarding him (Osby), but it makes no difference – the big guy barely has time to react before that shot is already off, and soaring through the air. That’s the dagger, right there. Vasquez had just cut it down to 4, 61-57, with a jumper in the lane, and Maryland looked poised for another comeback, having chipped away and chipped away – and now we hold the ball, run some time off the clock, and then boy, Singler just negates all their hard work with a 3 right where he’s standing, just jumps up and knocks it down, so poised and confident, like “I can do this, all day”. It is frightening even me! Vitale is just amazed at Maryland’s amnesia. “You can’t let him shoot it, Mike! I told you, he’s been on fire in the last couple of games. Gary Williams knew that. That was one of his points of emphasis to his team before the game!” Haha, and they show a shot of Gary Williams with both fingers on either side of his head, calling his team dumbasses for not guarding that play. 64-57, 5:30.
WOW!! What a peerless defensive play by Paulus, who just strips the charging Osby of the ball as he’s going to the basket, then spots a streaking Singler on the other end for a warp-speed pass for the DUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Statement bucket right there!!! “Oh, that’s big, that’s BIG!!!” Dickie V applauds. 66-57!!! 4:52, Gary Williams has no choice. Timeout, their last one, by Maryland.
“Kyle Sing-ler!” clap-clap-clap. “Kyle Sing-ler!” clap-clap-clap. I have no fear anymore. This game is in the bag. Maryland’s beat. 4:28, we’ve got our 9 point lead, and now it’s time to play some stallball and rest ourselves for the next game. Paulus dribbles some, Nelson dribbles some, we’ve spread their defenders out to nearly all 4 corners, and now Scheyer, with Gist guarding him, waits for the clock, waits for the friendly ticks to go down to 12, and now we execute. Singler comes out with a screen for him, Scheyer circles wide into the lane, nobody rotates over, and he finishes the run with a point-blank layup! “Isn’t that pretty!” “He froze the defensive playa! A little hoppy-step dribble!” Oh, Scheyer!
Scheyer should really wear a helmet and pads whenever he goes into the lane for drives – he gets fouled every time, and quite hard too. Then he happily goes to the free throw line to work on pretend-late-game-FT-scenarios, grinning with each swish of the net. Oh, Kyle! You shoulda dunked it! They play him for 4 corners again, he instead bolts through an opening and charges wide open into the lane, goes up in the air only to find Osby ready for the throwdown, and so he makes the read in mid-air and so unselfishly dishes to Nelson, who shows no mercy in the flush. And the crowd goes wild!!! “Duke is not #2 in the country for nothing. They have earned their lofty rating, and they have proved that emphatically during the course of the year.” Mike Patrick gushes. Oh, if only the rankings are based on earnings rather than expectations!
It is now 72-61, 2:18 left, and the last 2 minutes becomes a chat about Duke’s post-season chances. I think I can earn a doctorate on that now; I mean, I’ve heard just about every argument. And it always comes back to the same thing. Yes, Duke has both slashers and 3 point shooters, so “you have to kind of pick your poison” guarding them. Fine. But, but, but – there is always that “but”! You would think 22 games and 21 wins would answer it by now, but no – here we go again – we have no post presence. The shooting touch can come and go. The post presence, however, is solid. Oh yeah? Are you sure about that? The post presence can’t get into foul trouble? The post presence can’t give up turnovers, missed shots, just like a shooter would? The only thing I care about with a post presence is DEFENSE, and I think we’ve answered that question resoundingly well. We can defend, and we can defend with a vengeance. The Phoenix Suns added Shaquille O’Neill not for his offense, but for his defense. We cannot shell out $$ for a post presence in mid-season like the NBA, but we can play tremendous help D to compensate, and we have. We force an average of 20 turnovers per game, and we’ve done that again tonight, with 19, including 14 steals. FOURTEEN! That’s unreal! So, we will see. The thing I fear most is not an off-shooting night; I just think we have too many capable shooters for that. The thing I fear the most – is Kyle Singler in foul trouble. We will live or die by his defense, and if he is not able to defend with impunity, then we’re done. I’ll give you that much. And thank God, in the last few games, he’s really reined in his fouls. 77-65 final.
Post-game thoughts:
Kyle Singler’s threes
Ok, about this recent barrage of threes by Kyle: I looked up his stats recently, and it confounds me – more than 41% of his shots are threes, and more than 50% during ACC play. And at the beginning of the year, I would often get frustrated, because with our great guard play, we don’t really need another 3 point specialist – what we need are points down in the paint. And with his awesome FT%, I thought that would be more beneficial to the club. Plus, his 3P% wasn’t all that great – something around 33%. But that has increased. And in the last couple of ACC games – that has dramatically increased, to some nights where he’s shooting 50%, like in the UNC game. Why? Because he can get himself WIDE OPEN. You can have a piñata party right in front of him, and your stick won’t hit a single opposing defender. The opposing big guarding him often has trouble remembering that he has to go out and cover that part of the floor. And for Singler to be able to make threes at 40% or 50% clips is amazing. It is a MAJOR weapon. And it’s easier said than done when covering him on those shots, because:
A) He’s always the trailing forward as we bring the ball up, inbounding it to Greg or Nolan, so that the opposing big has already run down the floor on D and pitched his tent near the basket to guard. Yep. So that means if they don’t pick him up, either he gets a smaller guy on him, or nobody, which is the prime time to let that baby fly.
B) He is GREAT at getting himself wide open off of a pick n’ pop. Duke will run those plays for him, and if he’s open, he lets that shot fly faster than you can blink and watch it fly over your head into the hoop. He’s also great at shot selection. When he found his shot a bit too closely contested for his taste in the second half today, he reversed his action in mid-air to send the ball back out to Paulus – in mid-air! Very cute with his legs doing a scissor-kick.
For him to grow and cultivate his 3 point shot into a 66% clip tonight (6 of 9), and now 39% overall, is staggering. It’s just another facet of the mismatch that he provides, and gives us an insurance policy in case Greg/Jon/Taylor’s 3 point shots are off. We will need great shooting nights to go far in the tournament, and Kyle Singler’s already got us covered on one aspect of that. GREAT!
Duke vs Maryland's Execution
It’s pretty amazing to see how each team responded to the first Jan 27 game in Maryland, where Duke won 93-84, and came up with game plans to stop what hurt them the most, in a bid to win the rematch. Witness:
Maryland was going to stop DeMarcus and Gerald in the paint at all costs. Our pair had scorched them for 50 points, on 19 of 31 shooting, all over their floor! So they double or triple-teamed down low in the post, cut off driving lanes, and turned DeMarcus and G away again and again, forcing them to shoot a combined 4 for 15 and only 16 points overall. Now, I don’t know how much G’s shooting night had to do with his sprained wrist, as he was only 0 for 3, very uncharacteristic of him. But the strategy clearly bothered DeMarcus, who did kick it out for 2 assists, but gave up 3 turnovers. Overall, we had 18 points in the paint to their 32. Good job, Maryland – mission accomplished.
Meanwhile, Duke looked at Gist and Osby dominating the low block for a combined 16 of 26, 46 points total last time and said no way, never again. Osby still got most of his, but we especially keyed in and stopped Gist from touching the ball as much as he has in the last few games, and we were able to cut down their damage to just 21 points, on 8 of 22 shooting. For a while there, it was strictly the Greivis Vasquez Show, and though he got his 25, no one else really contributed, and that’s the ballgame.
In fact, it’s pretty damn amazing how Duke can concentrate on shutting down 1 or 2 players, and go about executing their plan to perfection. That’s a huge credit to the coaching staff, and the players as well to do it without fouling. The adjustments this team can make is astounding. In the Jan 27 meeting, I clearly remember both Singler and Paulus going to the bench during a crucial, crucial stretch because they were both saddled with 4 fouls. Kyle wound up fouling out. They were also struggling with their shot, with Singler clearly bothered by the bigger and more senior frontline of Gist and Osby, shooting only 2 of 10, 1 of 5 on three. Paulus, too, seemed beat by the taller Vasquez, shooting 3 for 7 and playing only 19 minutes. Nolan played huge in his absence.
But both players got their revenge tonight. My God, how much has Singler improved over the past 2 and a half weeks?? Ridiculous! The UNC game was huge, where he more than held his ground with Hansbrough, the BC game was hilarious how he abused Oates, and now, here, he made Gist foul out. Hell yeah! 6 of 9 threes!!! Combining with Paulus for 10 of 17 threes!!! That’s just sick! They combined for 46 points total, completely negating Maryland’s incoming battle plan to lock down on G and Nelson, and that’s the game. That’s the difference. We adjusted, we found and exploited our mismatches again and again, while they went to Vasquez and Osby and nobody else. Checkmate, baby.
The first few possessions don’t look so hot. Henderson with a short jumper doesn’t go, Paulus off a curl can’t hit, and Singler gets blocked. But we are making it look like 7 on 5 on defense, with Nelson and LT trying to steal every pass in sight, and a great Henderson BLOCK! turns into a fastbreak for us, with Nelson smartly whipping it out to Greg on the 3 point line for the TRIPLE!!!!!!!! 6-2! Great transition three, as they were playing Nelson for the dunk. Then – offensive charge drawn by Lance Thomas! We’re on a roll, baby! (Dickie V is in the house – can you tell?) Ugh, then they block another shot, Thomas’s this time, but Singler taps the rebound out to Paulus, who picks up the gift and immediately lets it fly – MONEY! 8-2, baby!!! 16:45, and Gary Williams needs a timeout! They can’t rebound for s***!
Long outlet pass to Henderson, who streaks into the lane all alone, going for the dunk – oh, but FOULED by Osby! The rim rattles with the confrontation, but Henderson shakes it off and nails both free throws. He’s wearing a black wrist band on his right shooting wrist, with straps that looks like he was involved in the filming of the Matrix sequels. Hey, Zoubek is in! And right off the bat, he challenges Gist for a shot and makes it go awry. Awesome! Singler’s demonstrating a great touch, first with a midrange jumper, then with a runner in the lane off the glass. His threes, though, are way off. And boy, is Maryland blocking our every shot. 4th block already?
4 guards out on the floor right now, with Singler the only one over 6’5”: Paulus, Scheyer, Hendo, and Nelson. Can we play their frontline with 4 guards? Singler tries to thread a pass inside to Nelson but it gets picked off. Scheyer tries a drive, but Osby comes over and challenges his shot, forcing it to rim out. The lead is down to a precarious 15-13, and just as I’m bracing for another nail-biting first half – PAULUS FOR THREE!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, way to go, GREG!! That’s a huge shot right there, making it 18-13. 10:40. They answer with Osby – but 6 seconds later, we answer right back with another three – this time, it’s SINGLER!!!!!!!!!!!! Left all alone on the perimeter! And he’s starting to shoot like King too – a foot or two beyond the 3 point arc, doesn’t blink, just sights up the basket and shoots. 21-15 in a hurry. They answer with another 2 point jumper. Okay. Paulus shrugs off a random foul in the backcourt, walks up the ball, gets a screen from McClure – and lets fly another three. AND IT HITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 24-17!!!!!! DAMN!!!!!!!!!! We can trade 2s for 3s all night long! Just say the word! Mr. Limits-Clubs-to-31%-from-Long-Range Maryland – heh.
And as they walk the ball back downcourt – the house just shakes with adrenaline, everybody jumping up and down, hollering – and the Maryland team looks like they don’t know what hit them – they’re making every shot, every shot, yet the lead’s grown to 7 in the blink of an eye. They are quickly realizing, too, that trading 2s for 3s is a winless scenario, that with Duke’s smallest and largest player on the court equally deadly from 3 point range, their size advantage on defense is also negated. And if they drag out their biggest players to defend on the perimeter, that’ll open up shots for our slashers and drivers inside. DeMarcus Nelson and Gerald Henderson are just licking their chops at the second they decide to do that, and open the lane back up for business. Classic deer-in-the-headlights look right there. Hey Gary! Maybe you wanna call another timeout? Share your thoughts on this phenomenon? 9:33.
Baseline drive by Hayes, seemingly all alone into the paint – and Nelson skies for the BLOCK! Great anticipation to get up in the air like that when it looked like Hayes had beaten everyone into the lane. Singler looses the handle on the drive to Gist – his 3rd turnover? King comes in for Kyle, and he has all kinds of trouble guarding Gist, who misses more point-blank shots than I can count, but keeps getting his own miss back, and trying again, until King ties him up – and is called for the foul. So far, though, this dude who scorched us for 26 in the last meeting has been pretty quiet.
Oh, MCCLURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Runaway DUNK! He flat-out made Osby look like a drive-through window! Wow! Troy is out on the perimeter, Osby is on him, he tries to body-check Troy but quickly pulls back both hands to show his repentance, and then Troy just zooms by him, hopping into the lane, and by the time they realize that he intends to shoot it is all over, he’s gone, and the ball thunderously rattling into the hoop. And it’s 28-18, just like that!!!! “Aww, you can’t let McClure take you one on one, and then no one rotates over!” Dickie V is livid at MD. 7:56.
Great steal by D-Marc, gets it to Paulus even though he’s fallen to the ground, Henderson passes to King right underneath the basket – but Osby blocks him!!! ARGHHHHH! But oh . . how to make them pay! A screener comes, nobody stays with Kyle, and it’s gone – ANOTHER THREE!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 of 11 so far from downtown by the team!!! And the Cameron Crazies give him a standing ovation, as one after another stands up, clapping, the cheerleaders twirling – this is a legend in the making. And Kyle just trots off to the other end, ready to get back on D, no fanfare on his part – it’s just too easy! And as they pan to our freshman sensation, Dickie V warns the rest of the teams out there that “he looks like he’s staying in college, there’s no NBA interest in his body.” Music to our ears, Dickie V! 35-22, 4:13.
Ah, thanks so much, Brian Zoubek! Our 7 footer sets a solid screen for Greg that sends Vasquez sprawling to the floor. But, all kidding aside – that Vasquez kid is really good at setting up his teammates, running the floor, and passing off to his bigger teammates, especially Gist, who made Singler reach for the steal, only to go crashing onto the floor as he got up an uncontested shot. That’s the Maryland that scares me – fast on the break, then able to go down low to Osby or Gist when they go to halfcourt. But Singler eases all worries with yet another three, this time from the corner – nothing but net, baby! You leave me open, you’re gonna pay every time. 3 of 6 so far for him!!! 41-30 at the half. Boy, that’s a cute stuffed turtle they’re torturing amongst the Crazies crowd!
Second half: Duke has now gotten somewhat of a reputation as a strong second-half team, and we again show it here – two steals on the first two Maryland possessions right off the bat! First, Nelson with a crazy move inside, walled in by an army of defenders and giving that classic “oh!” as he almost looses the handle, but manages to get it back and turns to toss it up strong. Then, we strip the entry pass to Osby. On the next possession, G makes off with another poor pass, and Singler tries a 7 footer, it bounces off the rim, we’re able to snatch the offensive rebound, Nelson drives – then kicks out to Kyle way out in the corner, and – HA! SINGLER BABY!! Just NAILS another trifecta from the corner – that’s his favorite spot! Right in front of the Duke bench! Gary looks like he’s just swallowed a turd. Immediately calls a timeout. I mean, he sure as hell can’t do anything else. Can’t go out and help his team guard Singler. Can’t assign a double team to him because of all our other scoring threats. And in a game full of mismatches, it’s up to whichever team can execute better. And right now, that’s Duke. 46-30, only 1 minute gone!
So Maryland finally decides to make a game of it. They’ve had it with their coach and his yelling. Vasquez is single-handedly leading his team on, and his teammates are responding. Look at him – screaming, slapping the floor! Hey kid – isn’t that what you hated about Duke? Paulus drives and looses it out of bounds. Nelson drives and looses it out of bounds. Boy, they’re really neutralizing Henderson and his power moves – Nelson too. Neither one of our slashers can create, because they’re repeatedly being met by a WALL of defenders, all looming to either alter or block their shot. Thank God we can kick out for 3s, huh? Just as I say that . . Nelson misses from downtown. Paulus misses. Scheyer misses. And what’s up with the no-calls? Henderson takes a charge but it’s not called. Singler tries to stop Vasquez on one of his trademark wild drives and both players go down, to nary a peep from the whistles. Uh, refs? Can we please solicit your opinion on these two last plays? Are they fouls or not? Just because Maryland is down 16 and now down 11 does not mean you need to give them all the help they need.
OH, PAULUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “Paulus with the ANSWER!” They’d just cut the lead down to 6, 46-40, off a Neal three, and we had botched up our last string of possessions to no field goals for about 4 minutes. Then Paulus sends the ball inside to Singler, who kicks it back out, and he just goes up for the three – and hits!! BIG TIME right there. Off the make, we double-team and trap their backcourt, and – they fling the pass straight to Gerald, who lobs it forward to Nelson, already gone – who DUNKS!!!!!!!!!!! Boy, we needed that! “[Duke’s] hard enough to beat without giving them all the easy ones!” 51-40! 14:44.
Hmmm. Hayes throws down a great three of his own, and that quiets the crowd down somewhat. But this team has gotten so good at stuffing the other team’s pipe dreams right back down where it came from, it’s scary. Paulus knows exactly what to do. I mean, it’s not like Gary Williams is blind. Paulus and Singler were 9 for 15 in the first half, while the rest of the team was 3 for 15. Shut down P and S, and supposedly, you shut down this high-octane Duke offense – right? That’s a nice idea – on paper. On the court, it looks something like this: Paulus walks the ball up, flipping through 43 different options on the set plays in his book, comes to set play #35, likes it, yells something to his teammates, gets a screen from Singler, drives left, gets both defenders to go chasing after him like squirrels, penetrates enough to get all manner of big bodies to jump up to meet him – and then – haha! – says “gotcha!” and reverse-passes out to Kyle Singler, who steps right up to the 3 point line with his entire sight line open in front of him and just drills the 3. You know it by now: “OH, WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!” He was WIDE OPEN on the 3! I mean, you could’ve parked a double-wide Hummer in front of him and the closest defender, and still had room for a tailgate! Jesus Christ! I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!! “He’s a 36% three-pointer shooter,” Mike Patrick gropes and finds his jaw from the floor, “but he’s 60% on the night!” As they pan to an exasperated Gary Williams, just speechless after that play, Dick Vitale reminds us of Gary’s own words at halftime: “We have to concentrate, and contain, Singler and Paulus shooting the three.” Good job, Gary! Really working out for ya so far! “Who’s made the last two? Paulus, and Singler.” “Exactly.” 54-43, 14:11.
So now Vasquez must resort to extreme measures, and pulls an Eric Maynor on Paulus, just hounding him in the backcourt. Henderson is inbounding the ball, Vasquez is pushing and shoving Paulus in every which way, steals the ball away, and runs off scoot-free. Okay. He then takes about 8 shots all by himself, including a wild runner against a staunch Singler that bounces wildly away and makes the announcers say “Huh? What was that???” Oh, and right in front of the Duke bench – Paulus is trying to take the ball off Singler’s hands and Vasquez just dogs him to no end, arm-wrestling him it seems, snatching his jersey and trying to trip him up and in general mugging Paulus in full view of the officials with nary a sound from their whistles. I mean, really – the officials tonight would much rather watch reruns of The Love Boat than call a foul on Super-Vasquez. Even Mike Patrick is livid! “I really find it hard to believe, that Vasquez was not called for a hold!” As the ball sails out of bounds on a desperate pass to Scheyer. Another turnover. Our lead is down to 5, 54-49, with 11:41 remaining.
Nolan is in for Greg, as Osby muscles in a ball to cut the lead to 3. Hmmm, Henderson is trying very hard, but just can’t seem to get to the rim in the right posture, and the shot rims out. Vasquez, aware that he can take all the glory and headlines with a 3 to tie the game, spots up about 3 feet out to launch the three – and misses badly. Classic Dickie V, as he ribs him: “He’s trying to shoot too many jumpers, not passing to anybody! Let that ball touch some people!”
OH, NELSON! GREAT defensive play on the switch inside as he just knocks that ball loose from what was seemly a runaway layup. Both teams are deadlocked at 54-51, nobody can score, and the defense is solid on both ends of the court. And just as Patrick notes that Duke has gone more than 5 minutes without a field goal – again – Paulus gets all the way into the lane, looks for all intents and purposes to shoot that ball, he was maybe 2 feet away – but his point guard instincts kick in, and he expertly lobs it out to Scheyer, who hits for THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my God, how we needed that! From the Duke corner! YES! 57-51!
Oh no, I spoke too fast. Vasquez with a runner, 57-53, then with 8:20 still remaining Paulus decides to initiate stallball, runs the clock down to 13, circles into the lane only to kick out to DeMarcus, who drives but, as he and Henderson has discovered all night long – just completely gets met by an immovable WALL, throws up an “oh!” as he looses his balance, and the ball doesn’t even get off for a shot before its picked off by the Terps. On the other end – Gist dunks – and suddenly it’s a 2 point game. 57-55, 7:53. S***! Duke calls a timeout.
Paulus tries a running 3 off the timeout, to no avail. Our 3 point shooting is now off its sugar high. LT with a block on the other end, they get it back, but they can’t hit it. And then? Who else? Oh, Oh, Oh – Singler!! Baseline drive, his body laced with emotion and determination, just knows he can beat his man and does it with speed and a smoothness that belies the surprise of Gist rotating over, laying it in with just a hint of a snarl. 59-55.
“ACC-olades”: ESPN shows a chart that’s pretty damn amazing. 24 of 55 ACC games so far has been decided by 2 points or fewer, or going into OT, with 10 OT games so far, nearly a record! (the record is 11) And what do you know, 6 of those games are courtesy of good ol’ Carolina, while Duke has been untouched! No one’s been within 9 points of Duke at the end of regulation, nor has had a lead on us with at least 4:55 left to play – yet SIX times Carolina has found itself in a sweat in the endgame! That would be at Clemson, at GT, vs Maryland (loss), at Florida State, vs Clemson, and at Virginia. Way to convince everybody you’re supposed to be the best in the league, huh, guys? Digger?
Holy LORD! Singler with ANOTHER THREE!!!!!! This time someone is actually guarding him (Osby), but it makes no difference – the big guy barely has time to react before that shot is already off, and soaring through the air. That’s the dagger, right there. Vasquez had just cut it down to 4, 61-57, with a jumper in the lane, and Maryland looked poised for another comeback, having chipped away and chipped away – and now we hold the ball, run some time off the clock, and then boy, Singler just negates all their hard work with a 3 right where he’s standing, just jumps up and knocks it down, so poised and confident, like “I can do this, all day”. It is frightening even me! Vitale is just amazed at Maryland’s amnesia. “You can’t let him shoot it, Mike! I told you, he’s been on fire in the last couple of games. Gary Williams knew that. That was one of his points of emphasis to his team before the game!” Haha, and they show a shot of Gary Williams with both fingers on either side of his head, calling his team dumbasses for not guarding that play. 64-57, 5:30.
WOW!! What a peerless defensive play by Paulus, who just strips the charging Osby of the ball as he’s going to the basket, then spots a streaking Singler on the other end for a warp-speed pass for the DUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Statement bucket right there!!! “Oh, that’s big, that’s BIG!!!” Dickie V applauds. 66-57!!! 4:52, Gary Williams has no choice. Timeout, their last one, by Maryland.
“Kyle Sing-ler!” clap-clap-clap. “Kyle Sing-ler!” clap-clap-clap. I have no fear anymore. This game is in the bag. Maryland’s beat. 4:28, we’ve got our 9 point lead, and now it’s time to play some stallball and rest ourselves for the next game. Paulus dribbles some, Nelson dribbles some, we’ve spread their defenders out to nearly all 4 corners, and now Scheyer, with Gist guarding him, waits for the clock, waits for the friendly ticks to go down to 12, and now we execute. Singler comes out with a screen for him, Scheyer circles wide into the lane, nobody rotates over, and he finishes the run with a point-blank layup! “Isn’t that pretty!” “He froze the defensive playa! A little hoppy-step dribble!” Oh, Scheyer!
Scheyer should really wear a helmet and pads whenever he goes into the lane for drives – he gets fouled every time, and quite hard too. Then he happily goes to the free throw line to work on pretend-late-game-FT-scenarios, grinning with each swish of the net. Oh, Kyle! You shoulda dunked it! They play him for 4 corners again, he instead bolts through an opening and charges wide open into the lane, goes up in the air only to find Osby ready for the throwdown, and so he makes the read in mid-air and so unselfishly dishes to Nelson, who shows no mercy in the flush. And the crowd goes wild!!! “Duke is not #2 in the country for nothing. They have earned their lofty rating, and they have proved that emphatically during the course of the year.” Mike Patrick gushes. Oh, if only the rankings are based on earnings rather than expectations!
It is now 72-61, 2:18 left, and the last 2 minutes becomes a chat about Duke’s post-season chances. I think I can earn a doctorate on that now; I mean, I’ve heard just about every argument. And it always comes back to the same thing. Yes, Duke has both slashers and 3 point shooters, so “you have to kind of pick your poison” guarding them. Fine. But, but, but – there is always that “but”! You would think 22 games and 21 wins would answer it by now, but no – here we go again – we have no post presence. The shooting touch can come and go. The post presence, however, is solid. Oh yeah? Are you sure about that? The post presence can’t get into foul trouble? The post presence can’t give up turnovers, missed shots, just like a shooter would? The only thing I care about with a post presence is DEFENSE, and I think we’ve answered that question resoundingly well. We can defend, and we can defend with a vengeance. The Phoenix Suns added Shaquille O’Neill not for his offense, but for his defense. We cannot shell out $$ for a post presence in mid-season like the NBA, but we can play tremendous help D to compensate, and we have. We force an average of 20 turnovers per game, and we’ve done that again tonight, with 19, including 14 steals. FOURTEEN! That’s unreal! So, we will see. The thing I fear most is not an off-shooting night; I just think we have too many capable shooters for that. The thing I fear the most – is Kyle Singler in foul trouble. We will live or die by his defense, and if he is not able to defend with impunity, then we’re done. I’ll give you that much. And thank God, in the last few games, he’s really reined in his fouls. 77-65 final.
Post-game thoughts:
Kyle Singler’s threes
Ok, about this recent barrage of threes by Kyle: I looked up his stats recently, and it confounds me – more than 41% of his shots are threes, and more than 50% during ACC play. And at the beginning of the year, I would often get frustrated, because with our great guard play, we don’t really need another 3 point specialist – what we need are points down in the paint. And with his awesome FT%, I thought that would be more beneficial to the club. Plus, his 3P% wasn’t all that great – something around 33%. But that has increased. And in the last couple of ACC games – that has dramatically increased, to some nights where he’s shooting 50%, like in the UNC game. Why? Because he can get himself WIDE OPEN. You can have a piñata party right in front of him, and your stick won’t hit a single opposing defender. The opposing big guarding him often has trouble remembering that he has to go out and cover that part of the floor. And for Singler to be able to make threes at 40% or 50% clips is amazing. It is a MAJOR weapon. And it’s easier said than done when covering him on those shots, because:
A) He’s always the trailing forward as we bring the ball up, inbounding it to Greg or Nolan, so that the opposing big has already run down the floor on D and pitched his tent near the basket to guard. Yep. So that means if they don’t pick him up, either he gets a smaller guy on him, or nobody, which is the prime time to let that baby fly.
B) He is GREAT at getting himself wide open off of a pick n’ pop. Duke will run those plays for him, and if he’s open, he lets that shot fly faster than you can blink and watch it fly over your head into the hoop. He’s also great at shot selection. When he found his shot a bit too closely contested for his taste in the second half today, he reversed his action in mid-air to send the ball back out to Paulus – in mid-air! Very cute with his legs doing a scissor-kick.
For him to grow and cultivate his 3 point shot into a 66% clip tonight (6 of 9), and now 39% overall, is staggering. It’s just another facet of the mismatch that he provides, and gives us an insurance policy in case Greg/Jon/Taylor’s 3 point shots are off. We will need great shooting nights to go far in the tournament, and Kyle Singler’s already got us covered on one aspect of that. GREAT!
Duke vs Maryland's Execution
It’s pretty amazing to see how each team responded to the first Jan 27 game in Maryland, where Duke won 93-84, and came up with game plans to stop what hurt them the most, in a bid to win the rematch. Witness:
Maryland was going to stop DeMarcus and Gerald in the paint at all costs. Our pair had scorched them for 50 points, on 19 of 31 shooting, all over their floor! So they double or triple-teamed down low in the post, cut off driving lanes, and turned DeMarcus and G away again and again, forcing them to shoot a combined 4 for 15 and only 16 points overall. Now, I don’t know how much G’s shooting night had to do with his sprained wrist, as he was only 0 for 3, very uncharacteristic of him. But the strategy clearly bothered DeMarcus, who did kick it out for 2 assists, but gave up 3 turnovers. Overall, we had 18 points in the paint to their 32. Good job, Maryland – mission accomplished.
Meanwhile, Duke looked at Gist and Osby dominating the low block for a combined 16 of 26, 46 points total last time and said no way, never again. Osby still got most of his, but we especially keyed in and stopped Gist from touching the ball as much as he has in the last few games, and we were able to cut down their damage to just 21 points, on 8 of 22 shooting. For a while there, it was strictly the Greivis Vasquez Show, and though he got his 25, no one else really contributed, and that’s the ballgame.
In fact, it’s pretty damn amazing how Duke can concentrate on shutting down 1 or 2 players, and go about executing their plan to perfection. That’s a huge credit to the coaching staff, and the players as well to do it without fouling. The adjustments this team can make is astounding. In the Jan 27 meeting, I clearly remember both Singler and Paulus going to the bench during a crucial, crucial stretch because they were both saddled with 4 fouls. Kyle wound up fouling out. They were also struggling with their shot, with Singler clearly bothered by the bigger and more senior frontline of Gist and Osby, shooting only 2 of 10, 1 of 5 on three. Paulus, too, seemed beat by the taller Vasquez, shooting 3 for 7 and playing only 19 minutes. Nolan played huge in his absence.
But both players got their revenge tonight. My God, how much has Singler improved over the past 2 and a half weeks?? Ridiculous! The UNC game was huge, where he more than held his ground with Hansbrough, the BC game was hilarious how he abused Oates, and now, here, he made Gist foul out. Hell yeah! 6 of 9 threes!!! Combining with Paulus for 10 of 17 threes!!! That’s just sick! They combined for 46 points total, completely negating Maryland’s incoming battle plan to lock down on G and Nelson, and that’s the game. That’s the difference. We adjusted, we found and exploited our mismatches again and again, while they went to Vasquez and Osby and nobody else. Checkmate, baby.
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