Duke is Digging in on D

Good article from espn.com on how Duke looked themselves in the mirror and saw a fairly soft team and couldn't win in a grind-it-out type game. What did they do? They changed their mindsets and practice habits:

These Blue Devils like to play defense. And they're really pretty good at it. Good enough, in fact, to just turn the tide on Purdue, the stingiest team in a Big Ten that prefers to score points only on the solstice.

Duke out-down-and-dirtied the Boilermakers, 70-57, to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2004 -- a hiccup by most programs standards, but a Dust Bowl Era drought by Duke's.

Think that's a coincidence?

"Probably not,'' Brian Zoubek admitted. "The reason we're here is our defense.''

The most maligned top seed in this NCAA tournament now remains as just one of two No. 1s to survive to the Elite Eight. Maybe along the way they've even silenced a few critics.

"We're a lot better,'' Jon Scheyer said. "In the past a lot of people said, and it was accurate, that we would have a hard time because we were smaller and too much of an offensive team to win games, especially games like this one. This team now has a lot more toughness.''

The toughness comes in all forms: not blinking when they can't score, outrebounding Purdue by 21, and yes, setting screens that serve as brick walls, a la Zoubek on Chris Kramer.

But Duke has been clamping down on everybody this season. This isn't a flash in the pan cooked up for the tournament; this is a decisive change in scheme.

Mike Krzyzewski has been preaching defense at his teams forever. It just hasn't always sunk in. It didn't always have to. Duke long has been able to mask its defensive inefficiencies with its offensive prowess. This group looked in the mirror and saw a team that could score but wasn't necessarily prolific.

They looked around the locker room and instead of a sea of guards discovered a forest of big men.

More they saw the memories of their greatest achievements stretching further and further in the rearview mirror.

"Why the change? A lot of tough experiences, a lot of losses,'' Zoubek said. "Losses because of our defense. We knew we weren't tough enough on defense and we had to start doing all the little things, the dirty work to get better.''

So the Devils turned practices into rugby scrums. They put on their knee pads, thigh pads, mouth guards and dug deep for the tenacity they knew they were lacking. They played team defense and worked separately, big men at one end of the floor, guards at the other. Regardless of the setup, the attitude was the same -- 100 percent all in.

"We wouldn't have won this game last year, I don't think,'' Singler said. "Now, this is just who we are. We're a more complete team. We can find a way to win.''

A coach on the floor

Four years ago, Jon Scheyer's mother called his high school coach one Saturday morning with some unusual news.

“Jon is going crazy,” coach Dave Weber said Laury Scheyer told him. “He's writing a letter to every kid on the team.”

Glenbrook North, Scheyer's high school, had completed its regular season the night before and was heading into the playoffs. Scheyer wanted to win a state title and was leaving nothing to chance.

He typed out individual letters to each teammate, instructing them on the roles they needed to play for the school to win a title.

He wanted Zach Kelley to rebound and score inside.
Scheyer's backcourt partner, Sean Wallis, needed to be a leader and hit shots. Scheyer told Malik Valliani he needed to become a good passer.

“His leadership is incredible,” Weber said. “You can talk about it, but it was so natural with him.”

That's why it seems so natural to Weber that Scheyer is thriving at Duke after being moved from shooting guard to the starting point guard spot Feb. 19. The point guard is supposed to be the leader and steadying force for a team, and Weber said that role fits Scheyer perfectly.

With Scheyer claiming most outstanding player honors at the ACC tournament, Duke seized the league title Sunday.

Before his move to the point, Scheyer was averaging 13.1 points a game. Since the move, he has averaged 20.2 points in nine games. Eight of those games have been wins for Duke (28-6), which will meet Binghamton (23-8) in a first-round NCAA tournament game at about 9:40 p.m. Thursday in Greensboro.

“I like having the ball in my hands,” Scheyer said Tuesday. “I feel like I'm not going to make bad decisions with the ball.”

Since Duke has moved Scheyer to point guard, Krzyzewski has seen that one of Scheyer's best assets is his ability to stay cool under defensive pressure.

Scheyer usually makes the smartest, most conservative play possible with the ball. That doesn't get him a ton of assists (he's averaged 1.9 the last nine games), but it helps Duke keep the ball.

“We really haven't done anything in the tournament, and many people don't expect us to (this year),” Scheyer said. “And for us, in high school it was the same thing. And the main thing I want to get across to my teammates is that we can win, and I believe we can.”

It's all about the team with this guy

It has been a tough year personally for Duke point guard Greg Paulus. The senior who was a 3 year starter up until this year has seen his playing team decrease with the rise of quicker guards Nolan Smith and Elliot Williams.

It is rare to see a 3 year starter get to his senior year and be a role player who played only 10 total minutes in the 3 ACC Tournament games. It is even more uncommon to see a player like this remain a great teammate. From the New York Times:

When Duke won the tournament title, no player in the team picture had a bigger smile than Paulus. He had the championship trophy in front of him, a senior’s prerogative.

He does not sit at the end of the bench; he is usually the first player next to the coaches and the first one up to greet a player walking off the floor with a hand slap. He sits on the edge of his seat, absorbed in the game.

“It’s sincere,” said Steve Wojciechowski, a Duke assistant coach and former point guard for the Blue Devils. “Greg is one of the all-time best guys we have had in our program. He’s the guy you trust your kids with, and give the keys to your house, or keys to your car.”

Elliot Williams, the freshman guard, said he goes to Paulus after practice looking for tips and insights. Paulus shares three seasons of lessons.

“Elliot is doing a great job for us; he’s really helped out our team,” Paulus said. “He is so long and athletic, and he can really put ball pressure on. He’s a good athlete, and we need him to keep playing well.”

“I’m thinking about the game for 40 minutes,” he said. “We need everybody to win. It’s been different guys to step up and help us win games. I’m not the exception. I need to be ready.”

Sense of Urgency

Big win for Duke on Sunday night as they beat Wake Forest 101-91. Coach K knew it was a huge game for his team calling it "as big of a game as we've had here in three years"

A master at mind games, Krzyzewski gave his team a message similar to the one he gave the U.S. Olympic team on its gold medal run.

“Instead of saying we had to win I told them we’re going to win it,” Krzyzewski said. “The anticipation of doing something should help you better than the expectation of having to do it.”

Thoughts from Coach K

Duke has been struggling mightly lately compared to where they were at the beginning of the season. With recent losses to Clemson, North Carolina, and Boston College, they have become vulnerable in certain aspects of the game lately. The strong defense that carried the team in December and January was nowhere to be found. Gerald Henderson bemoaned the Blue Devils' once-stout defense.

“They scored (almost) every possession they had for the last five minutes,” Henderson said after Duke lost 80-74 to Boston College. “I don't know how many points we gave up in the second half, but it was way too many.”

Here is what Coach Mike Krzyzewski says Duke can do better:

Don't let a failure to score on offense affect the defense, too. “Maybe if you're not shooting well or you're not hitting well, you can take that mind-set to the defensive end, and that may stop you from talking as well,” Krzyzewski said.

Re-establish a defensive attitude and pride. “I think what's missing a little bit for us is a sense of urgency to stop somebody,” Krzyzewski said.

Return to fundamentals. “It could be something as simple as your stance, how the team is talking to one another,” Krzyzewski said.

Don't Forget This Loss

If you watched the Duke/Clemson game last night you saw the blowout that Clemson put on Duke. Coach Krzyzewski was asked if team are sometimes better off forgetting about bad losses and moving forward:

“Our players shouldn’t forget this loss. This is as bad as you can play,” Krzyzewski said. “You can’t say, ‘Oh, that’s OK.’ Not if you’re wearing a Duke uniform.”

“You never forget this loss,” Krzyzewski said. “Going into another game, we can’t hang on to it but you can never forget a game like this one.”

Duke melted against Clemson’s defense, which wobbled them with their full-court pressure in the first half then continued to bother them in the front-court with straight-up man-to-man pressure in the second half.

Kyle Singler had five turnovers. Nolan Smith had four. The total was 16 but it felt like twice that many.

“They know how to turn you over and you have to be strong with the ball,” Duke’s Gerald Henderson said. “You have to make quick decisions and value the ball. We didn’t do any of that.”

Wake Forest, Duke built on defense

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.”