By Paul Gotham
5 + 5 +27 = 73 – 67.
How’s that for new math.
For Duke that equation is all too bitter as the Blue Devils faltered in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year losing to West Virginia 73-67.
The sword that Duke so gallantly used throughout the season ultimately turned on them in the end.
Duke entered the ’08 tournament 12th in the nation making nine trifecta per game. Many a game the Blue Devils sent daggers through the air that pierced the spirit of their opponents – twelve versus Maryland and Miami, and thirteen against UNC to name a few.
The Duke faithful took comfort early in Saturday’s regional semi-final when Greg Paulus nailed two from behind the arc in the first five minutes. Surely visions of the junior point guard knocking down five against North Carolina State or six versus the Tar Heels had the fans thinking of another solid shooting performance from the Blue Devils.
Little did the denizens of Cameron know at the time that Paulus would not hit another from behind the arc until there were less than five minutes remaining in the contest.
It proved to be a case of too little, too late.
In the end the Blue Devils converted five from long-range – four below their average.
The difference – twelve points – would have been more than enough to help Duke advance to the sweet sixteen.
But three-point percentage is not the only tale of the tape measuring Duke’s loss.
The Blue Devils attempted fifty shots Saturday. Nineteen of those shots actually graced the twine. Of the thirty-one failed attempts Duke managed a mere five offensive rebounds.
That is rather offensive.
By comparison, West Virginia grabbed eighteen offensive rebounds. With those boards the Mountaineers took sixty-two total shots – twelve more than Duke. The shot differential was enough to lead West Virginia to their third trip to the sweet sixteen in the last four years.
Overall West Virginia out-rebounded Duke 45–27.
Whether it was a failure to follow shots, the lack of blocking out, or an inability to simply put two hands on the ball the Blue Devils came up short.
Symbolic of Duke’s futility was the showing by senior DeMarcus Nelson who managed six points one game after scoring a mere two points in Duke’s one-point opening round victory over fifteen seed Belmont.
West Virginia appeared to have Nelson perfectly scouted by taking away his ability to drive to the basket. Unable to get his shooting touch the senior looked more like a liability than a leader.
Unlike moments in the past when Duke seniors such as Chris Carrawell and Steve Wojciechowski left the floor in their final game realizing imminent defeat and embraced Coach K, Nelson walked by in dismay and took his spot on the bench.
Coach K and staff will convene and figure out where to go from here.
Here’s hoping they find the swords of years past.
Live by 3, die by the 3. Is there any doubt that a lack of a post presence cost Duke this year. Come on Coach K , it’s pretty obvious that you love that Open set with guys bombing 3’s or penetrating to the basket but don’t abandon that back to the basket big man that can get some tough baskets in close games. Your best teams had at least 1 big man.
JD
Can’t agree with you more. I’ll take Boozer ‘tanking it’ any day.
Just a thought – what do you think the chances are Coach K knew this team was NOT gonna go to the final four not to mention winning the national title? Considering that – would The Coach decide to play an attractive offense. He kinda cut the kids loose. Now he’s got a couple of options: could work as a nice recruiting tool – come to Duke and play a pro style offense. Or, okay we let you guys show us what you got, now it’s time to do it my way and play some ball.
Casey
I hope that’s not the case with Coach K. I HATED their offense this year. Everyone knew their flaming 3-point barages would eventually turn into “impotent ash.” It was downright sad to watch them play this year. He did let his kids loose – that’s not Duke basketball. If this is the new offensive mentality of Coach K, I will not be the least bit surprised to see him coaching an NBA franchise in 2 years.
I did not enjoy watching Duke play offense with this team either, but what could he do with the talent he had. He certainly wasn’t going to rely on Greg ‘I am probably going to travel 3 out of every 5 times I touch the ball Zoubek’ to carry this team. He might have resorted to what he thought was best for the hand he dealt himself.
Reynell could you please enlighten me as to what “Impotent Ash” is? Sounds like you may have picked up some Southern sayings.
Maybe being the head coach of the Olympic team has rubbed off on Coach K.
So why hasn’t Duke been able to recruit a big man with back to the basket abilities over the past 2 years?
Somewhere in the mix things have not worked out for Coach K and Duke (don’t worry I am not expecting anyone to show pity).
Zoubek was highly touted out of high school and expected to make an immediate impact. As we can see, that has not happened.
Mix in there that McRoberts did not fulfill expectations than bolted to the NBA development league and voila Duke has little inside game to speak of.
K and staff probably could have entered the Love or Beasley sweepstakes, but can you blame them for not. Those guys are gonna bolt after two if not one year. Coach K has probably had enough of dealing with early defections.
Casey