DURHAM – Mike Krzyzewski said from the beginning this was an “old-school team, old-school season.” Relying on balance and depth was Duke’s path to an ACC and/or NCAA title.
He meant teaching his players lost arts as a result of the modern AAU circuit that emphasizes individual workouts. Fundamentals such as talking on the court and the entry pass to big men in the lane.
“They’re taught to play alone,” Coach K said. “Some of that’s good, a lot of it is not good. That’s why they don’t talk. Who are they going to talk to?”
Teaching communicating and entry passes wasn’t as necessary in recent seasons with NBA one-and-done rosters.
“When you have Zion (Williamson) and R.J. (Barrett), you don’t to teach that as much — or with (Marvin) Bagley) and (Wendell) Carter or (Jayson) Tatum,” he said of the past three rosters. “You center everything around them. With this team, it’s everybody. Everybody has a chance to be good. There is no ceiling on any kid. I love it. I didn’t love 25 minutes of today (Saturday against Brown). It’s a different thing for me. We’re OK with that. We just have to improve like our old school teams.”
The “old-school” Blue Devils (11-1, 1-0 ACC) return to ACC play against Boston College (8-5, 2-0 ACC) at 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Eagles, picked 13th in the conference preseason, have ACC wins over Wake Forest and Notre Dame and are on a four-game winning streak.
In Duke’s latest win, 75-50 over Brown on Saturday afternoon, the lack of talking and ability to execute a high-low game with entry passes were on display. The silence resulted in Krzyzewski ripping off his jacket and throwing it to the bench with 11:26 left in the first half.
Moments earlier Brown’s David Mitchell followed teammate Brandon Anderson’s three-point field goal with his own trey to tie the game at 12-12. Duke’s Wendell Moore grabbed the ball and attempted to inbounds ball, but there was a problem.
No one was waiting for his pass. All four other players ran down court.
Jordan Goldwire, who had started at point guard while starter Tre Jones nursed a foot sprain for a second straight game, was on the bench. Moore called a timeout to prevent a turnover. The players took their seats and endured choice words and foot stomping from Krzyzewski.
It was a teaching moment that Coach K explained came naturally with old-school pickup games.
“The talking particularly – ‘I got you. You got me. Good job. Let’s go, man! When you play pickup games with 14 guys in the gym and you play winners — I may be dating myself — it’s the best thing. If you lost and John took the last shot, but I should have taken it, I’m going to get all over him because now I’m watching someone else play.”
Goldwire was reinserted into the game. With Duke struggling on three-point shooting, Duke began executing high-low entry passes to score in the paint.
Brown scored first for a 14-12 lead, but then Carey scored inside on an assist from forward Joey Baker. Brown again led 17-14, but then Duke went on a 9-1 run.
With players subbing in and out, Baker scored in the paint on an assist from Carey. Carey stole the ball and went coast to coast for a dunk. Matthew Hurt scored inside on a pass from center Javin DeLaurier. Alex O’Connell hit two free throws.
“You have to teach more fundamentals today,” Coach K said. “There is no way in individual workouts that these guys practice the entry pass. It’s an individual workout.”
Krzyzewski added the high-low game fits Carey, a 6-foot-10, 260-pound freshman. He led the Blue Devils with 19 points and six rebounds.
“It makes Vernon move,” he said. “We have a half-dozen different things we can do from it. When we have guys in the corner we can get the ball in the middle of the lane instead of just on the block. It’s a different view. He’s good with the ball. He’s got good feet. He’s got good moves. I thought we missed him like crazy in the first half. In the second half we found him.”
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Tom Shanahan, Author: Raye of Light http://tinyurl.com/knsqtqu
— Book on Michigan State’s leading role in the integration of college football. It explains Duffy Daugherty’s untold pioneering role and debunks myths that steered recognition away from him to Bear Bryant.
http://shanahan.report/a/the-case-for-duffy-and-medal-of-freedom
Don’t believe the myths at Duffy Daugherty’s expense about Bear Bryant’s motivation to play the 1970 USC-Alabama game or myths about the Charlie Thornhill-for-Joe Namath trade. Bear Bryant knew nothing about black talent in the South while he dragged his feet on segregation.
http://www.shanahan.report/a/forty-four-underground-railroad-legacy-facts
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