Singler Gets Day Off, Excited About First Tournament

WRALSportsFan

Singler Gets Day Off, Excited About First Tournament

By Jake Lloyd

Mar 20, 2008

comments

WASHINGTON - On the Monday after the ACC Tournament and three days before the start of the NCAA Tournament, Kyle Singler took a much-needed day off from basketball.

"I didn't touch the (basketball) floor at all," Singler said. "I just stayed in the room, rested. I think I did go to a movie."

While Singler didn't initially remember what movie he saw, he was sure the day sans basketball helped him heading into his first NCAA Tournament. The Duke freshman has struggled over the past six games — which include two losses — and needed a refresher.

Two seed Duke (27-5) will take on Belmont (25-8) at 7:10 p.m. Thursday night in the first round of the West Regional.

As the ACC freshman of the year and a dynamic offensive player who is averaging 13.6 points per game, Singler will have to play well for No. 9 Duke to make a deep run into the tournament.

"I came back refreshed, ready to go," Singler said. "Practice has been real short (and) sharp, and we're just making sure that we're on-point and we're doing the right things."

When the 6-foot-8, 220-pound Singler is on top of his game, he creates mismatches all over the court with his array of offensive abilities. He can post up smaller players, drive to the basket with his ball-handling skills and step out for 3-pointers.

The last six games, however, Singler has relied heavily on the 3-point shot — and his shots haven't fallen. He has made just 21 of 66 field goals (31.8 percent) and six of 32 triples (18.8 percent).

In Duke's ACC Tournament semifinal loss to Clemson, Singler had his worst collegiate game, making one of nine field goals for a career-low two points. After the game, coach Mike Krzyzewski said, "Kyle looks tired."

But on Monday, Krzyzewski said Singler's struggles are due more to him not using all of his abilities.

"To have the year that he has, he's been much more than a jump shooter," Krzyzewski said. "I really think when we beat Virginia (on March 5), and he had all those shots at the end — he was like 2-for-9 (from 3-point range) — and even though we won by a big margin, he's a little bit of a perfectionist.

"I think it may have bothered him a little bit, and so you become where, 'I got to do that better,' and you forget about your (other) assets. You forget that you can score by driving, getting to the foul line, (an offensive board), and I think he's put too much on the jump shot.

"And I don't think it's tired legs."

On Thursday, Singler said he simply needs to get back to "making plays."

"Sometimes I can over-analyze things that make the game more difficult than it really is," Singler said, "when it's just playing basketball.

"(I need to) just think about making plays instead of making my shots. That's just the main thing that coach brought up to me."

Krzyzewski used a baseball analogy to explain Singler's play of late, saying he's been working against a 0-2 or 1-2 count instead of working it to 2-1 or 3-1. In other words, he hasn't been patient enough and used the whole court.

"It's almost like, 'I have to do this,' and maybe his (decision-making) base hasn't been strong," Krzyzewski said, "because he already had it premeditated, and he's open — he's not taking bad shots — (but his mindset is), 'I need to take that shot,' instead of, 'I need to get a base and I need to make a decision.'"

Singler has also taken a beating all season, playing undersized in the post against the likes of Maryland's 6-8, 250 Bambale Osby and Clemson's 6-7, 240 Trevor Booker. As a result, he has sustained multiple facial cuts that required more than 30 stitches — easily the most of any Duke player.

"He's really had to bang a lot inside this year and really go up against some really tough guys," teammate Jon Scheyer said. "So I think … (the rest) might almost have been a good thing for him to kind of be able to refocus now and get refreshed, and he's going to be fine for the tournament."

Singler will also get a game off from battling bigger, stronger players. Belmont is a perimeter-oriented team that shoots a ton of 3s and doesn't feature a player more than 220 pounds who logs a lot of minutes.

"It's sure going to be nice not guarding someone 6-9, 250," Singler said. "So I'm definitely going to be in a position where I can use my height and use my weight — and with (7-1) Brian (Zoubek) back, too, we'll be able to use the post more.

Singler's teammates aren't worried about his production. Senior captain DeMarcus Nelson said he didn't feel the need to say anything to Singler heading into the tournament.

"He's been good for us all year, and I think he'll be fine throughout this tournament," Nelson said. "I think he just hit a point where … the length of the season and the physicality of the season might have had a little bit to do with his performance last week.

"But we've all — everyone in this locker room — had different times throughout the year where we didn't perform to the level of our abilities, and you just got to bounce back from it."

It's back to basketball now for Singler, and one thing he hasn't lost the past couple weeks is his constant smile.

"We're very confident as a team," Singler said with a grin, "and now we're just ready to get it going."

Most Recent Comments

you are weird dude! All this time I really thought you were a whiney chick, was surprised, well, not really.

"heelsfan19, God i'm glad you are not a family member!!"

Yeah, no one in my family would wear that outfit either.

What the heck could eva come out of Loves Park, Ill.? NOT MUCH

heelsfan19,
God i'm glad you are not a family member!!

"IF YOU DON"T LIKE WHAT I WATCH on TV OR WHAT I WEAR, STAY THE HE** OUT OF MY PROFILE YOU LIL PIECE OF CRA*"

Wow, struck a nerve there, didn't I. Hey, you asked and if you don't like people looking at your profile, don't make it public...plain and simple.

WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan