Thoughts on Duke's loss to Villanova
Mar 27, 2009
The Perfect Storm. That’s what it was. In the Boston Regional, Duke combined the two things that would spell disaster on any night, poor shooting and a team that plays their type of defense.
I had the thrill of watching the entire game next to Rollie Massimino, who coached Villanova to the 1985 national championship. And on a night in which Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer were a combined 4 for 32, he made a statement that made me sit back and think. He said, “Don’t mistake poor shooting with good defense.” This is very true. For the record he told me this at halftime. But even with the “good defense” on both ends of the court, Duke only trailed the Villanova Wildcats by the score 26-23. It seemed as if Mike Krzyzewski’s team had dodged a bullet. Then came the second half.
Scheyer described the second half best. “We were getting the shots we wanted. We just weren't hitting," he said. "Obviously, we thought we played terrible in the first half and we were only down three points, and we were encouraged by that."
The game was very physical. ACC official Karl Hess was calling the game. He has seen Duke play its aggressive perimeter defense. Both Villanova and Duke were given a little latitude with hand and arm checks. But the biggest difference in a physical game usually ends up being underneath the basket. Duke was out-rebounded by 15, and the second-chance points ended up 25 to 7 in favor of Villanova.
If there is one silver lining for Blue Devil fans. My last question to Kyle Singler was, “Will we see you playing at Duke next season.” His answer, “Most definitely!”
