Duke: You Just Don't Write Off a Coack K Team

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Duke: You Just Don't Write Off a Coack K Team

By Barry Jacobs

Mar 14, 2007

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Raleigh, N.C. — If this was a team with any other coach, you might write it off as one and done.

The Duke Blue Devils lost their last three games and seven of their last 11. Having established themselves as a formidable defensive unit, they allowed their last three opponents to hit at least half their shots.

They eliminated many of their most painful offensive traits, but remain mediocre shooters from the foul line and floor and unsteady ball-handlers, with 70 more turnovers than assists on the year.

Their 70.2-point scoring average is lowest at the school in a quarter-century.

What’s more, for the first time in a long while, there’s no one on the roster who strikes fear into an opponent or to whom teammates can turn with confidence when the going gets tough.

So, why not write off the Dukies as they make their 12th consecutive NCAA appearance? Because their coach, Mike Krzyzewski, has won more NCAA contests than anyone in history (68) and more than three-quarters of his NCAA outings (78.2 percent) overall, second only to UCLA’s John Wooden among those who coached at least 20 games in the tournament.

Krzyzewski also is not about to concede anything, certainly not a chance to regroup a squad he alternately praises and prods.

“We have really good talent and decent depth,” Krzyzewski said Monday. He insisted his team was worn down by the pressures of ending a four-game losing streak, something that had not occurred at Duke since 1996, and by the grind of playing in a tough league.

“Habits for a young team are not deep-rooted, so they can be pulled up quicker if there’s a negative,” Krzyzewski said.

Turning negatives into positives, or simply ignoring the negatives in favor of the positives, is what Krzyzewski does best. So, he talks of Greg Paulus, the team’s top 3-pointer marksman (.448), as “shooting the ball as well as any point guard has here for me.”
Lance Thomas, a slow developer at power forward, had his best three practices of the year, DeMarcus Nelson has become more judicious with the ball, the team is re-learning to talk on defense. And so on.

The Devils need to rekindle their defensive fire, which still has them with a 4.7-rebound advantage over opponents, best at Duke since 1999. They also require more offensive assertiveness from big man Josh McRoberts (12.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 110 assists) and wing guard Jon Scheyer (12.3 points, .848 at the foul line).

Seeded no lower than third the past decade, Duke’s sixth seed bespeaks its vulnerability. That’s especially true given the strength of its opponent, Virginia Commonwealth.

“VCU is a championship-level team,” Krzyzewski said. “You have to start the tournament playing great basketball.”

The Rams already are doing that. They are led by a pair of guards, sophomore Eric Maynor and senior B.A. Walker. Maynor made the all-conference first team and paced the Colonial Athletic Association in assists (7.2 per game), with three for every turnover. Walker is the scoring leader (14.8) and made second team All-CAA.

VCU has a stable starting lineup, much of it put together by former Blue Devil Jeff Capel, now coaching at Oklahoma. There is no dominant rebounder, but the team still out rebounds opponents, forces plenty of turnovers, and shoots well from the foul line (.725) and 3-point range (.400). There is good depth, with eight players appearing for nearly 11 minutes in virtually every game.

This is just the sort of team that can score a quick knockout. Even if the Devils show they can take a punch, though, they are unlikely to go far in what is arguably the tournament’s most challenging region.

Most Recent Comments

Well stated dukeengineer......GO DUKE!!

Maddie girl, I'm sorry the other other bandwagon UNC fans are picking on you. When UNC is on a downturn again (yes, it will happen again because success in the ACC is cyclical), we won't have to worry about Heels1 or Warren G. and all the others talking trash and showing lack of balance, respect, and intellect. We have to remind ourselves that they are just blowing off steam now while they can, and also while it happens to be TRENDY. When UNC tanks it again they will definitely hide and won't be heard from again until the next successful cycle. That's the nature of obnoxious bandwagon UNC fans.

You don't have to be very smart to be stupid

warren warren warren, what are you doing over here???? nothing but stupid, ugly, slow,tarhole fans on this blog, trying to get educated. Heels1, please, you like Jay, because he gave cryolina a compliment??? warren, what time is your mom picking you up????

maddie, shouldn't you be reading up on how to conjugate verbs? or how an egg is fertilized? get to your homework!

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