Duke Downs Princeton, Advances In Hawaii
Duke defeated Princeton without too much trouble, but it was a tale of two halves: in the first half, Duke punished Princeton and played with great intensity, making it really difficult for the Tigers to run their famed offense. But in the second half, Princeton was very effective, often the more aggressive team, and may well have set the tone for a revival of the brand.Kyle Singler set the tone for Duke in the first half, almost pulling a 20 minute double-double, dominating Princeton and leading Duke to a 38-8 lead.
Princeton was completely outmatched in the first half, which was underscored by two terrific alley-oops: one was Gerald Henderson’s elbows-over-the-rim dunk, and the second was a nice toss to DeMarcus Nelson for a ringing slam.
Henderson’s was the sort of dunk which makes people ooh and ah for several minutes.
For most of the first half, Duke played with tremendous verve and confidence.
In the second half, though, Princeton nearly played Duke on even terms. And it wasn’t just the score, it was the attitude. DeMarcus Nelson had a shot solidly blocked. Princeton’s kids dove for the ball and scrapped harder. They also got a number of three point shots off and started working the backdoor brilliantly.
Considering the emphatic whipping Duke was building in the first half, it was a pretty impressive answer. And when the offense was successful, it to an extent did what it always does to more talented opponents – it turns their athleticism against them.
Clearly, everything favored Duke, not least of all scoring 83 points on a team which is dedicated to a much more deliberate strategy. And Duke dominated the boards, too, getting 39 to Princeton’s 21 and holding PU to two offensive boards for the game.
Where Duke held Princeton to around 30% for the first half, by the end of the game, Princeton actually was shooting better – 47.8% to 45.3%.
Did Princeton play better in the second half. Without question. But the key question for Duke is this: did they allow Princeton to shoot better in the second half. And the only honest answer is: yes, they did.
And for Coach K, that’s always been a taboo. You don’t let up, ever. You best respect your opponents by playing hard every minute of the game.
Duke didn’t do that in the second half and while they still won with ease, the lead didn’t particularly increase in the second half. Princeton’s confidence did, though.
Our early take on this year’s team is pretty simple: while it’s a small team, they can overwhelm other teams through ball pressure and getting out and running and scoring lots of points off of their defense – but they’ll need to play with a lot of intensity to make it work.
You could mark this game down as a partial success for both teams. For Duke, the potential was on display, and when they maintained their intensity, it was at times a dazzling display. Singler was particularly impressive, but Gerald Henderson had a solid game as well, with 6-8 shooting and some breathtaking athletic moves. Greg Paulus had some really impressive moments in the game, and Jon Scheyer continues to show that he’s one of the smarter players around.
For Princeton, while the first half was pretty much a disaster, the second half was a very different story indeed. After the tumult of the past two seasons, which saw the Tigers really fall a long ways, in the second half, the Tigers played ferociously. They went after blocked shots, chased loose balls, hit a lot of three point shots, and made a number of back-door cuts for easy layups. Lincoln Gunn in particular played very well, but so did Alex Okafor and Matt Sargeant.
Princeton is unique in that nearly everyone pulls for them (as long as they’re playing someone else, anyway). Everyone wants to see them knock off a power. They haven’t done that very much lately, but if the second half is any indication, Sidney Johnson has them on the right track.