Duke Runs Past Hoos, 86-70
When Virginia stayed right with Duke for almost the first fifteen minutes of the game in Charlottesville, and Sean Singletary seemingly scoring at will, it seemed as if this game might go the way last year’s game went. But then Mike Krzyzewski threw what was, for him, a considerable curve ball.
Orange.
That’s what Duke calls the zone Coach K picked up from Jim Boeheim. Well, not exactly – Boeheim didn’t invent the 2-3. But he does understand it as well as anyone, and he can offer as many tweaks as anyone can. Coach K threw two perimeter defenders at Singletary, which slowed him down, and his teammates were pretty passive and didn’t attack. Virginia’s shots began to bounce off the rim, and pretty quickly, Duke had a double digit lead and the game was effectively over.
Virginia did rally in the second half to cut it to nine, but Duke took it right back to 14 and basically toyed with the Cavs the rest of the way.
It might have been a closer game if Duke hadn’t shot well, from inside and out. Duke was 12-27 from behind the line (44.4%), and was 50.8% overall. The Devils also moved the ball very well, with 17 assists on 33 shots.
From Duke’s point of view, the least happy part of the game was Kyle Singler’s poor shooting. But even that wasn’t that big a deal. Singler was off from the outside but did well around the basket particularly in the second half.
Greg Paulus, playing with a nasty mark under his eye courtesy of Javi Gonzalez, played an excellent game, shooting 5-10 (four of them treys), with three assists. DeMarcus Nelson was a thorn in UVa’s side as well, with his usual mix of inside and out play. He finished with 16 points and four assists. But probably the player of the game was Gerald Henderson.
Henderson finished with 19 points, seven boards, and four assists. He hit a real lull in his game after his wrist injury, but since he started turning it around, his development has really accelerated. His defensive game against Georgia Tech was a huge advance, and while he didn’t shoot well against State, he finished with five assists and two blocks. It’s not all that often that you can watch a player just grow right before your eyes, but Henderson appears to be doing just that. When he was recruited, Coach K said he could develop into a player like Grant Hill. He’s got the hops, he can shoot, rebound, pass, and defend. He’s becoming a really dangerous basketball player.
The other guy on this team who is going through a similar growth spurt is Brian Zoubek. It hasn’t shown up statistically, but just watch him: he’s playing like a real big man. Earlier in the season, he was hesitant and often appeared timid. Now he’s working the post like a true big man, grabbing boards, challenging shots, and starting to score as well.
The most fun thing about this team, in many respects, has been watching guys grow into their roles. Take Jon Scheyer, for instance, who could have been somewhat put out by not starting, but who has become a ridiculously good sixth man, and who is basically getting about as many minutes as he was last season anyway.
It’s not like he wouldn’t have shown the same improvement as a starter, but he’s just gotten so good as a sixth man. It’s a role that Red Auerbach and Frank Ramsey basically defended, and the key is to have a guy who is just as good or better than the starters, who can ideally play three or more positions, and who can provide a major jolt off the bench.
Scheyer qualifies on all counts, and unlike last season, when he was a skinny freshman who was at times thrown into things he wasn’t ready for, he is this year, and at times he’s done some ridiculously cool things – like that back-to-the-basket-no-look layup.
Another nice late trend is Nolan Smith hitting three pointers. It’s just one more weapon in the arsenal.
In some respects, it was a sad game. Sean Singletary is one of the great competitive lions in ACC history. The current standard is Tyler Hansbrough, but historically, the big dogs are guys like Randolph Childress, Steve Blake, Charlie Ward, Mitch Kupchak, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, and Shane Battier, to name a few (we would list Christian Laettner, but he put himself in a different category altogether).
The most luminous moment of his career was his insanely great performance against Duke last year. Do you remember how the camera caught his eye right after he hit that incredible shot at the end of the game? That’s what we’re talking about. Singletary is one of those guys. He just doesn’t have any help. Tyrese Rice is in the same boat. You hate to see guys show such heart but not be able to break through.
We’ve been impressed with Singletary since we heard about him in high school. He totally backed Pete Gillen, who originally recruited him, and after Gillen departed, he went out of his way to bond with Leitao.
He’s just a really gutty, tough kid, and we admire him a great deal.