Big game tonight in the ACC as #1 Duke is set to take on #6 Wake Forest. According to this article in the Charlotte Observer, both teams success can be traced back to their defenses, which are two different, successful styles:“Two very, very different styles,” said Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg, the only ACC coach who has faced both teams this season. “Both extremely effective.”
Wake Forest is the ACC's leader in field goal percentage defense (.368) and 3-point percentage defense (.284). Duke has held all five of its ACC opponents to fewer than 59 points, including a 44-point effort Saturday by Maryland that was the Terrapins' lowest output since 1985.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski likes to create havoc by pressuring the ball and denying passing lanes. Point guards have wilted under the pressure applied by sophomore Nolan Smith, a superb defender who's in his first season as a starter.
Opposing coaches say Duke is switching screens more than in the past, which disrupts offenses by preventing dribblers from getting into the lane. But Krzyzewski said Duke's principles are the same ones he has coached during his entire 29-season tenure with the Blue Devils.
The Deacons haven't been using their style nearly as long. Dino Gaudio, who's in his second season after taking over as head coach after Skip Prosser's death, has installed the “Pack Line Defense” made famous by former Wisconsin and Washington State coach Dick Bennett.
Gaudio said his players are much more comfortable with the defense in its second season than they were in 2007-08. The defense also fits Wake Forest's personnel.
It calls for intense man-to-man pressure on the ball with the remaining perimeter defenders available to help stop the dribbler because they're sagging off their men to an imaginary arc that's two feet inside the 3-point arc.
The idea is to keep the ball on the perimeter and force opponents to shoot over the likes of 6-foot-9 Al-Farouq Aminu and 6-9 James Johnson.
“They're so long, and they're so active in their gaps,” said Greenberg, whose team lost at Duke on Jan.4 but handed Wake Forest its only loss a week ago. “They close out and recover so quickly.”
