"Devil of a Second Half"
Jan 21, 2009
Duke began the second half in a full court press. And why not? NC State is turnover prone. More importantly, Duke’s offense needed a boost from its defense. The Blue Devils shot a woeful 29% in the first half, and trailed the Wolfpack 26-22. What’s more State, when it didn’t turn the ball over, was doing a good job attacking Duke’s interior.
The pressure didn’t pay immediate dividends for Duke. In fact State scored a couple of easy baskets while Blue Devil defenders were chasing the ball down court. But over time, the work State had to do against 94 feet of heat led not only to more turnovers, but a change in the complexion of the game. In the first half, State committed nine turnovers, but those led to just eight Duke points and no fast breaks. In the second half, the Devils pressed the Pack into ten turnovers, which led to 19 Duke points-ten of them on fast breaks.
NC State coach Sidney Lowe, who is after all, still the ACC’s career leader in assist to turnover ratio as a player, has a theory about these miscues. Lowe would of course prefer error free basketball, but he can accept some turnovers that lead to out of bounds plays. The ones he finds really hard to stomach are the turnovers that lead to transition opportunities for State’s opponents.
Not only did Duke get help from its full court game, the Blue Devils’ half court offense began to click in the second half-primarily because of Gerald Henderson. Would Henderson have taken over the game had Courtney Fells not picked up his third foul early in the second half? We’ll never know. Fells, whom Henderson admitted after the game defended him very well, was whistled for number three at the 18:56 mark. Henderson says Fells did not guard him even one time after that point.
On the second Duke possession after Fells’ third foul, Henderson hit a jumper. Then he juked a defender and drove to the basket. Moments later, Henderson attacked the lane and picked up a basket, plus a foul-three point play. Then Henderson beat the State defense and threw down a monster slam. Henderson later added a couple of jump shots. He finished with 21 points, all except one free throw coming on two point baskets.
Henderson has been taking over games since a reporter asked him back in December why he had not yet become a superstar as expected. Call it coincidence, but since that point, Henderson has averaged 17 points per game. In conference games, he ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring average, netting an even 20 points per game. We should note here there is much more to Henderson than his scoring. Against State, he recorded seven rebounds, four assists, five steals, and a blocked shot-in addition to the 21 points.
Henderson’s work against NC State seemed to inspire his team. Kyle Singler, who took only two shots in the first half, started looking for the basketball. And finding it-Singler scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half. Nolan Smith had two big three pointers, the second gave his team the lead for good with just over nine minutes to play. And so after shooting just 29% in the first half, the Devils made a blistering 77% of their shots in the second. And converted a possible loss, into a 73-56 win.
The numbers are in keeping with what Duke has done all season, holding 12 of 18 opponents to 60 points or less. And the Devils continue to lead the ACC in scoring margin, beating conference foes by a little over 15 per game. But if you look beyond the deceptively one-sided score, Duke’s first half offensive woes against State are cause for concern. Should the Devils shoot 29% against Wake Forest, the misses will lead to Deacon rebounds and fast break baskets. Duke needs a little more from the triumvirate of Brian Zoubek, Lance Thomas, and David McClure. Above all, the Devils need guard Jon Scheyer to regain his shooting stroke. Take away the Davidson game, where he was 6 for 11, and Scheyer has made just 12 of his last 47 shots.
For NC State it was another frustrating night. The Pack led at halftime, and trailed by just three with about five minutes to go. But unlike Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech, where State rallied from six points down in the late stages, Duke dominated the closing minutes of this one. And so, State has still not won at Cameron Indoor Stadium against a Mike Krzezewski coached team since the days of Jim Valvano. Juxtaposed against State’s current struggles are the successes of two of the Wolfpack’s former coaches, Herb Sendek and Sean Miller. Both men coach teams that are moving up in the national rankings. Sendek’s Arizona State club just upset UCLA in Pauley Pavilion. Miller’s Xavier Musketeers are unbeaten in the Atlantic 10, and ranked 15th in the AP poll.
NC State has shown improvement in some areas over last season. It doesn’t give up nearly as many easy baskets. The Wolfpack has worked hard on offense to develop a reliable inside game and not be so dependent on outside shooting. But State ranks seventh in rebounding margin and twelfth in turnover margin. Led by an older group of players whose eligibility runs out at the end of this season, the Pack must feel an urgency to start winning some games.
