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Time to regroup: Blue Devils handle Musketeers ‘Notes and Quotes’
By CCT Staff | December 21, 2008
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - While Nolan Richardson may have coined the term ‘Forty Minutes of Hell’ to describe his Arkansas Razorbacks, anyone familiar with college basketball understands that the Blue Devils of Duke University are a living on-court personification of that phrase. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Mike Krzyzewksi’s squad always plays at an incredible intensity level from opening tip to final buzzer.
Yesterday at the IZOD Center, Xavier experienced forty (or at least twenty) minutes of hell in the literal sense, and it was apparent from the get-go that Xavier did not match the intensity level of the Blue Devils and surprisingly appeared timid.
Four turnovers in the first three minutes, lazy passes that led to Duke transition points, an 18-1 lead out of the gates for Duke, and one less field goal (9) than turnover (10) for Xavier at the half. A tough outing, but one from which youngsters like Terrell Holloway and Kenny Frease will grow; and also one that while fans may hope the Musketeers will forget, Sean Miller will be sure they learn from going forward.
The final: 82-64, Duke.
Below are courtside observations, notes and ‘quotes’ from College Chalktalk’s Ray Floriani and Ian Nolan.
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Notes & Observations -
1. Early possessions. The early possessions do not always win a game but they can set the tone. Today, however, they might have done both. The first five possessions saw Duke score three field goals while Xavier had a lone free throw and two turnovers. Actually, the first possession was probably an omen of things to come. Xavier won the tap then lost the ball on their first trip. Duke answered with an open Kyle Singler feeding Brian Zoubek in the post for a three-point play.
At the five possession mark the score was 8-1, with just over 17:45 remaining… Xavier coach Sean Miller called a time out to calm his team and remind them of what they should be executing on both ends. At the four minute media time out it was 18-1 Duke. “I told my guys,” Miller said, “we have to do something or they might get 190 (points).”
2. Why the slow start? There were no indications in warmups or when Xavier took the floor, but they just seemed to lack confidence from the opening tap. Miller noted as a team their was a lacking of the confidence. B.J. Raymond, a 6-6 senior guard and “core player for us” per Miller, finished with 10 points and did not have one of his better outings. The best player on the floor for Xavier was Derrick Brown with a team high 18 points on 8 of 15 shooting.
3. Defensive issues. Duke posed a huge defensive problem. When your offense sputters you can rely on the defense to sustain you. Xavier, a good defensive team, struggled with their ACC opponents. The wings, Jon Scheyer (game high 23 points) and Kyle Singler(9 points, 4 assists) were very effective. Scheyer had three treys in the first four minutes. Inside, Brian Zoubek had a strong outing with 9 points and 4 blocks. “They have four guys in there that can dribble and shoot the ball, Miller said. “That just puts a lot of pressure on your defense.” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski noted once Scheyer stopped shooting, Gerald Henderson took over. Henderson added 19 points and was lethal penetrating or on the perimeter (2 of 3 from beyond the arc).
4. Preparation. Kryzewski noted the Blue Devils had a good week of practice and played well the second half against UNC-Ashville on Wednesday. He also noted in film breakdowns that they noticed Xavier trapped hard on screens, so Duke spread their offensive spacing a little more and emphasized good ball movement. As a result, the quick, pinpoint passing of the Devils provided a number of good looks.
5. Numbers. Xavier entered the game with a gaudy 86 defensive efficiency. The first half (39 possessions) the efficiency was an eye popping 141-62 in favor of Duke. A better second half for Xavier resulted in Xavier’s offensive rating climbing, but Duke still finished with a 121-97 (68 possessions) advantage on the efficiency. This demonstrates the direction of the respective teams during the course of the afternoon.
Game pace slowed the second half. Duke got out and ran off turnovers created in the first half and with the large lead at the break, they ‘put the brakes on’ the final twenty minutes.
As noted, Xavier had more turnovers (10) than field goals (9) the first half. Final turnover percentage was 24% (high) for Xavier while Duke valued the ball with a TO rate of 16%. Anything under 20% is regarded as solid.
Duke also had 7 blocks and rejected 17% of Xavier’s two point attempts.
6. Perspective. Xavier faithful, be thankful, it’s a December bump in the road, not a season ender in March. “I’m disappointed how we played but if you told me in August,” Miller said, “win or lose today we would be 9-1, I would take it considering the teams we faced.” Miller noted the experience would be a good learning one, specifically in concentration, effort and defense, in terms of moving forward. Xavier had the admiration of Kryzewski who said,” they are a really good team. They struggled today but (Derrick) Brown is a big time player and (C.J.) Anderson and (B.J) Raymond are winners.”
Former NBA player and coach Doug Collins, whose son Chris is a Duke assistant, sat behind our press area. Collins also admired and had good words to say about Xavier despite the rough day. Collins did note this Duke team is unique. “It happened against Purdue and today,” he said. “Whenever Duke faces a team that could beat them… they step it up to another level.”
On Saturday they did just that.
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Quotes -
John Scheyer
We made the extra pass, we played together and we created shots for other people instead of for ourselves. We need to be really hungry when we step on the floor. Against Michigan, we weren’t hungry and it was a learning experience. We need to play every game like we did today, hungry. Our Defense has been great lately. Our offense can hurt our defense when we turn the ball over. When we take care of the ball and get set shots, we can get into our half-court set defense we can be really good, teams don’t want to face our half-court defense. Brian was hurt last year, and he makes a big difference inside the way he protects the basket and finishes inside at the rim.
Greg Paulus
We know how good Xavier is, we wanted to come out and get off to a quick start and we did a good job executing the game plan. Defensively, we tried to pressure the ball and get out in the passing lanes.
We shared the ball very well, when they doubled in the post, we kicked out and knocked down our shots. The first half was the best we’ve played this year. We’re excited to play any team, they are a top ten team in the country and playing them on a neutral floor, we knew we needed to play well. We did a good job hitting threes and getting easy baskets in transition and the offense rolled from there.
Coach K
On his team’s performance - We played a heck of a game today. The defense was outstanding, we talked so well, we switched well on screens, and played off the 5. Offensively, we really executed well, our two wings had fabulous games, John and Gerald. They were outstanding. Zoubek inside did a great job inside today with the five blocks. We played well as a team and we played against a really good team.
On the hot start - It was a half that is not expected versus a team like Xavier. But, we were very well prepared. We took a step up mid-week as a team, the guys had a sense of maturity about than, more so than usual. They prepared so well these last two days, I knew we would play well, but we played great today. Even knowing we would be play well, I didn’t know if we would win the game but, we played great today.
On Jon Scheyer - He needs to think shot first and pass second, because he’s not a selfish kid. John has been a good leader for us, and sets a good example.
On playing at the IZOD - If we could bottle that first half we’d be pretty darn good. Playing here puts you in a tournament like situation. Playing in these types of arenas has been a good thing for us. We played great today, not just good, we played crazy good today. This place has been a magical place for us and NCAA basketball. When you walk out on the court here, it was a NCAA tournament atmosphere. Having that one darn line just looks so much better. We look to play teams that are a top 10 team, people like to come out to see a game like this. My staff said when you walk out, it is like being at the NCAA’s and it was, a great atmosphere.
On Greg Paulus - He’s still developing. He doesn’t have to come off the bench he just has to be a really good player. He is still getting healthy right now with his knee and arm and finger. He has played really well lately. He can come in and stay in and our start a game, it doesn’t matter. He and Lance are like starters for us, that’s how we have to view them.
On spacing the floor - We tried to do something because they hard show on screens so we tried to use that to get better spacing. And it worked because we just hit shots. But we had our feet set and knocked down shots. We are a good shooting team but we need to always take good shoots, today we did that.
On Gerald Henderson - He played very well Wednesday, and he’s practiced great. He’s the only player on the team who can make his own shots. So once John stopped shooting, Gerald took over for him. For us to become a team that can go far and do what we want to do, he and John have to play well.
On Xavier - They are really good, and they did not play their best today, and we were not the only reason for that. They are and are going to be a really good team. Brown is a big time player and Anderson and Raymond are winners, we feel really good about beating them today because we have a lot of respect for them as a team.
Sean Miller
Obviously we a disappointed today. I want to give credit to Duke, I hope he said that was one of the best games they’ve played. When John and Gerald get going for their team, they enter a different category as far as how good they can be as a team. Clearly the start had a lot to do with today’s loss, being down that many 18-1, it is hard no matter what you tell your team. There start, was the signature in the game today. When you play against the best, you are tested to the highest level, we have Butler next, who is top ten in the RPI, so its more of the same for us coming up. We try to play the best every year, so to be 9-1 I feel good about that, but we did not show ourselves in the best way today, but Duke is clearly a better team then we are.
We have been down, but not that much before. They put so much pressure on your defense, because they drive the ball and handle the ball so well at four different positions. Henderson when he is on, We had no answer for Jon Scheyer, and the other guys all put pressure on your defense. We couldn’t stop their dribble penetration.
On nerves - I hope our older guys were not nervous because a lot of our older guys have played in big games. We were on our heels at the start of the game though. They really attack you early on, and the start of the game had a lot to do with the final score of the game.
On playing in New Jersey - We love to get to the New Jersey/New York City area. And we want to play in areas like this versus a team like Duke. I am just disappointed in our team because of the stage we were on and the way we preformed today. But, even if we had played better, I think Duke is a better team.
On moving forward - We need to move to the next game now. I would have signed up for 9-1 going into Butler if you had given me the chance to be 9-1 in the summer. But I just didn’t like the way we lost today, the deficit. We have a big picture and that’s to be be 10-1 after we face Butler. To play a team and coach like Duke, can do nothing but help you. But I’m disappointed in the way we played.
On Duke’s opening run - We went through two time outs. In one, I tried to be positive and said lets make sure we stay true to who are and get back in it in the next four minute segment. And in the next one, I said at this pace their going to score 190 points, and I really thought that was a possibility at the start of the game.
On B.J. Raymond - B.J. has been a core for us confidence wise, and he’s been through everything with us here; the best wins and the toughest losses. We really need him in these games and he did not have the confidence we needed him to have in a game like today, and it rubs off on the rest of the team.
On the 2nd half - Clearly it could have been worse. We competed in the second half and Derrick Brown did a great job. But, clearly Duke did some things to take the foot off the peddle in the second half, because that’s the kind of class program they are, and that allowed us to kinda get back in it.
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