Duke Hammers Findlay, 84-48
In the first half against Findlay, Duke got an idea of what the team would be like without Nolan Smith, who didn’t play until after halftime. They’ll get a better idea of life without Nolan for the next two games which he’ll be forced to sit out.
Overshadowing the Findlay game was the news that Smith has been suspended for two games for playing in unsanctioned summer league games. And after seeing the team without him, we can say we greatly prefer it with him.
In the first half, while Duke was never seriously challenged, Findlay hung around. Duke went into the half leading just 36-23, partly because they didn’t move the ball well and partly because they lacked aggressiveness under the basket.
In the second half, with Smith in the lineup, things changed rather quickly. Duke was faster on the break, handled the ball better, and just generally seemed a more confident group.
Aside from the Smith story and his influence on the game, there were a lot of things to talk about. First of all is the remarkable transformation of Kyle Singler. This Kyle Singler? He’s gone, or at least on leave. The strength training, the move to play inside – that’s history. Now his body is remarkably lean. With his hair longer, he looks somewhat like a ginger Beatle circa 1960.
Maybe a better comparison is J.J. Redick. Remember the amazing transformation he made for his junior year? Singler has pulled of something similar. He’s in superb physical condition with no meaningful body fat.
So far, his move to the perimeter is going fairly well. His shot is quicker and accurate, and he has a nice little move for a pull-up jumper too. He’s the same and yet he’s not.
Duke started Singler, along with Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek and Miles Plumlee, for one of the bigger lineups we can remember at Duke. Scheyer’s game by now is pretty well understood so we’re not going to dwell on him a lot other than to say for the most part he played well.
The other three starters all showed improvement. Healthy for the first time at the start of a season, Zoubek had one of the highlights of the game when he stripped a Findlay player near the top of the key to start a break. In general, he showed a lot of savvy and will be very useful this season. He’s also the first bearded player at Duke we can remember in a very long time, perhaps ever.
Thomas was, to us, really impressive. We’re comparing him to his freshman self, when, really, he was pretty limited. He had no idea how to pass, he couldn’t shoot, and he was weak.
He’s still not much of a shot, but he’s selective about it. And the rest of his game has improved dramatically. Now he’s an assertive rebounder, a smart passer, and a very good defender.
Like Singler, he’s being asked to play more on the perimeter. He had to guard guys who were much smaller, and he did a solid job.
Miles Plumlee picked up a couple of foolish fouls and ended up fouling out in 15 minutes, but he is a vastly improved player from last year.
| Points | Rebounds | |
| Singler | 20 | 9 |
| Thomas | 8 | 9 |
| Zoubek | 9 | 9 |
| Miles Plumlee | 9 | 10 |
You may have noticed we didn’t mention anything about stats so far, and that’s for a reason: Duke came within a whisker of doing something a bit unusual: four guys getting a double-double in the same game.
But the inside play didn’t stop there: the Plumlees combined for eight blocks, Zoubek got two, and Scheyer and Ryan Kelly picked up one each.
So adding up the defensive rebounds (40), the blocks (12), and the turnovers (20) by Findlay, that’s 72 trips to their end with nothing to show for it.
Let’s go back to those blocks. Having a shotblocker who can run across court, or chase someone down in traffic, and block it emphatically and dramatically, is a big help. Having two is pretty intense.
The Plumlees both have the flair. Miles ran a guy down, went up to block the shot, and got it – with his elbow.
Mason came running across the lane after he made a mistake and made an absolutely ferocious block on a Findlay player. We’re not exaggerating much when we say that it took the crowd’s collective breath away.
These guys are imposing on defense, or at least can be. Part of it of course is the level of the opponent.
Ryan Kelly played but didn’t participate as much in the bountiful rebounds and blocked shots. He did show, though, that he understood how to get the ball inside. He’s an excellent passer and will fit very well into any high-low scheme.
Andre Dawkins also played but didn’t score. Not to say he didn’t contribute: he had intensity and his defense wasn’t bad.
Olek Czyz showed some flashes in his 10 minutes. His instincts are improving.
You can see outlines. First of all, all the big guys except for Zoubek have great motors, and the backcourt, when it’s all there, is pretty good. But it’s a very different approach for Duke and for this group of players, and it’s going to take some time to get it all right. When they do, though, it’s going to be fun.