Being Behind Put Duke in Unusual Situation

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Being Behind Put Duke in Unusual Situation

Jon Scheyer fights for a loose ball for the Blue Devils against Maryland on February 13, 2008.

By Jake Lloyd

Feb 20, 2008

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The situation was unfamiliar to the Duke Blue Devils.

Less than five minutes remained in their ACC game against Wake Forest Sunday and they trailed. By a whopping 10 points, 72-62.

It wasn't the first time Duke had been behind late in a conference game. But the only other time it occurred, the Devils were down a single point to Florida State for a mere 16 seconds.

Sunday's scenario was new to the Devils (22-2, 10-1), who hadn't lost since Dec. 20, and they didn't respond well. Duke rushed shots, turned the ball over three times — for a total of 22 miscues — and all five starters fouled out as the Demon Deacons pulled away for the 86-73 victory.

The result might have been different if Duke had the lead entering the final 5 or 6 minutes. That's because the Devils have shown an impeccable ability to pull away from teams late in games.

The undersized Devils' ball-handling skills are a big reason for this. So is coach Mike Krzyzewski's spread offense. Another reason is that Duke — when leading late — hasn't turned the ball over.

"The last five minutes of the game, we've been so efficient in our open sets and using our assets, and people have to come against us because we've have a lead," Krzyzewski said.

"It hasn't necessarily been a huge lead — sometimes it's double digits — and then we're able to dictate, we've been able to dictate how the last few minutes of the game have been played."

The transition-oriented Devils shift into slow-it-down mode when Krzyzewski rises from the bench and spreads out his arms to his sides. Usually, Duke's lineup will consist of four guards — Greg Paulus, Jon Scheyer, Gerald Henderson and DeMarcus Nelson — and 6-foot-8 Kyle Singler, who has the ball-handling ability of a guard.

There are two points to the attack. One of them, obviously, is to take time off the clock. The other is to create mismatches against a bigger, slower defense.

"It's a really big advantage, because (against) pretty much every team we've played, we'll have a mismatch because five of us can handle it," Scheyer said.

"So if there's a (defender) who maybe isn't as good on the ball, that (defender's) guy can just handle it on top until the end of the shot clock and then we can get into any sets we want to run."

In Duke's 77-65 win over Maryland, that guy was Scheyer, who was guarded by the 6-9 James Gist. On a few occasions, Scheyer pulled Gist out toward midcourt then ran a pick-and-roll with Singler, who was guarded by 6-8 behemoth Bambale Osby.

Since Singler has proven himself as a very capable 3-point shooter, the Terrapins were worried about him getting an open look. That allowed Scheyer to race by both defenders for a layup on one possession and a foul — and two made free throws — on another. Duke turned a tight 57-55 lead with 7:58 remaining into a double-digit lead in the final 3 minutes.

It was representative of many of Duke's 10 league wins. While the Devils haven't won by less than nine points, several of their victories have been close games into the final 5 or so minutes. That's when — as long as they hold a lead — the Devils create some separation between themselves and the opponent.

Opposing coaches who have watched Duke beats their teams realize how hard it is to come back on the Devils.

"It's very difficult to stop them because they have such good ball-handlers and they spread the floor, and all their guys can shoot it," Boston College's Al Skinner said. "They can all handle it.

"It makes it extremely difficult to defend. You have to have equal quickness defensively at every position, and not many teams have that, and that's why they're having the outstanding year that they're having."

While much was made earlier in the season about Duke's lack of size inside — which created so-called mismatches for players like Maryland's Gist and Osby — Terrapins coach Gary Williams knows that both ends of the court need to be considered.

"People always talk about matchups, but they forget — matchups are on both ends of the floor," Williams said.

It all starts with protecting the ball. In Duke's 90-80 win over Boston College, the Devils turned it over just six times. When told about the statistic, a surprised Henderson said, "That's pretty impressive. We know that we can't win without the basketball, so taking care of the ball was huge for us."

Despite Duke's season-high 22 turnovers Sunday, the Devils still lead the ACC in turnover margin at plus-5.58 per game. Wake Forest is second at plus-3.58.

Finishing games has been a learning process for Duke, even if that hasn't been evident in most of its games. At the beginning of the season, the Devils were so focused on pushing the tempo — and erasing the memories of how stagnant last year's offense became at times — that they made the late-game spread offense more complicated than it needed to be.

"Guys were going all over the place (in practice) and we were making so many passes and moving all over when it can just be simple," Scheyer said.

"When we have the lead, the other team — they're the team that should feel the pressure, and we should be able to relax and take care of the ball and do the simple things. At first, I feel like we struggled with it a little bit, but I feel as the season's gone on, we've gotten a better handle for it."

A big reason for this is the amount of practice time the Devils have dedicated to working on the spread. Last season, Duke lost several games late after giving up a lead. Scheyer said the Devils played not to lose.

"A lot of our games last year came down to making plays at the end of the game," Lance Thomas said. "We didn't execute. That was basically the story of our season last year, losing games by two or three, you know, on a consistent basis.

"That's something that we actually have been working on in practice. We have been working on a lot of late-game situations, so as you can see now, we're a more poised team with that. We're not panicking and things of that nature, so things that we do in practice translate to the game, and it's actually been very big for us."

Scheyer said that the aplomb of Nelson, Duke's senior captain, has been vital in tight games. In the Devils' hard-fought 93-84 win over Maryland, Nelson hit the big shot — a difficult runner in the lane — to expand Duke's lead to five with just over a minute remaining. Nelson rarely takes a bad shot and his composure on the court rubs off on his younger teammates.

Krzyzewski's impact also can't be downplayed. He hasn't let the Devils waste a possession — even if they lead by a comfortable eight or nine points.

"I think he knows how important each possession is, and there are certain points in the game where he really feels like a certain possession is really key for us to get a good shot and a big stop," Scheyer said.

"So those are the times when he really wants to make sure that we're all under control and we know what the situation is. That's what he's doing a lot of the time."

But Krzyzewski wasn't able to keep the Devils under control against Wake Forest. It was a novel situation for the Devils, and without the comfort of being able to go to their spread offense, they struggled down the stretch.

So a new challenge has presented itself. What can Duke do to come from behind in the final minutes of tight games?

As the Devils prepare for Wednesday's game at Miami, this, quite possibly, will be a focus in practice. Or maybe Krzyzewski will school his players on not letting that situation present itself again. After all, the Devils wouldn't have been down 10 points if they hadn't gone nearly 5 minutes without scoring.

"We have to always play like we have to win. That's the sign of a champion, is to be able to do that even when you're so called in the (NCAA) tournament and all that kind of bologna," Krzyzewski said after the loss.

"That's part of learning. Wee have some young guys who haven't been champions before, and they're trying to learn how to be that. Sometimes the best lessons are the ones that are taught in defeat, so hopefully we'll learn that lesson."

Most Recent Comments

Want some fun at the Heels' expense? Go to carolinasucks.com! Hours of entertainment there, I tell ya!!

Thanks, Tizu!!!

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. As a Duke fan, you are my friend!

TBK, absolutely agree with you, sir! 3 point line should be pushed back.

Tarheelturtle - I admitted the foul situation and didn't whine. I never blame anything on the refs. Duke fouled nearly ever time down the floor...when they got to the stripe, they inhaled vigorously from the FT stripe. Can't win games like that. I say again, Credit WFU for a well-played game. They were awesome.

and for the record...I HOPE NCSU WHIPS THE BROWN SUBSTANCE OUT OF UNC TONIGHT! Probably won't happen, but I hope State makes it interesting anyhow!

That was for you TBK! ;)

he sure is/will be better than Dean no doubt about it.

rumbleehockey03, grow up! Making fun of peoples names is so childish. I think you need to go to bed little boy. Its way past your bedtime.

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