Category Archives: Duke Basketball

Duke Basketball Recruiting News

High School Hoops 2010 Edition No. 2

marshal1-300x235This edition is a bit of a preview edition as many high schools tipped off their first games in early December and newspapers across the country kicked off their high school basketball coverage with season previews and articles focused upon key players. [private]

Christ School improved to 5 - 0 on the season with back to back wins at the Christ School Tip-Off Tournament. The Greenies defeated Greenville High School 89 - 60 and Greenfield School 89 - 70. Junior Marshall Plumlee (7'0" 200) recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the first game and added 9 points and 8 rebounds in the championship game.

Sophomore J.P. Tokoto was in foul trouble and held to 10 points as Menomonee Falls fell to Milwaukee King 65 -62 in overtime. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a game recap posted as well as a detailed preview on Tokoto. By the way, J.P. stands for Jean Pierre.

Tyler Thornton and Gonzaga College High School are looking to win the WCAC Championship this season.  Here is a seven minute video preview of the team.

Austin Rivers is ready to start his junior season at Winter Park High School and the Wildcats are considered one of the favorites to win the Class 6A State Championship. The Orlando Sentinel has an article posted on Rivers as well as a video interview in which Rivers discusses his team’s loss in the state semi-finals last season. Winter Park will be hosting the Rotary Tip-Off tournament Dec. 2-5.

Trey Zeigler is a 6’-5” shooting guard at Mt Pleasant High School in Michigan whose name has been mentioned in connection with Duke. There is some speculation Duke will pursue him if things do not pan out with Roscoe Smith. Zeigler is ranked as the # 35 player in the Class of 2010 and his father is the coach at Central Michigan University. This article from the Morning Sun discusses Zeigler and his focus on team play.

Quality Education Academy lost to Findlay Prep, 69 – 63, at the Tournament of Champions in Peoria, IL.

And Bradley Beal, ranked number seven in the Class of 2011, according to Scout, has given a verbal commitment to play his college ball at the University of Florida. The St Louis Today has a nice article on Beal’s commitment.

Prep sports coverage in online newspapers across the nation is still focused upon football, but basketball coverage will pick up as football seasons come to an end. As the coverage increases, Blue Devil Nation will keep you posted on game results for Duke recruits and recruiting targets with links to articles and box scores from across the country. [/private]

Duke Basketball

Duke at Wisconsin Official Game Notes

Plumlee brothers go at it in practice - copyright BDN Photo
Plumlee brothers go at it in practice - copyright BDN Photo

Game 7   •  Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Duke (6-0) vs. Wisconsin (4-1)

Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009  •  9:15 p.m.  •  ESPN

Kohl Center (17,230)  •  Madison, Wisc.

The Opening Tip

Duke (6-0), ranked sixth in the AP poll and fifth in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, faces unranked Wisconsin (4-1) on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 9:15 p.m in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Wednesday’s contest will be aired by ESPN with Brent Musburger, Bob Knight and Holly Rowe calling the action.

The Last Time Out

Duke is coming off a 68-59 win over Connecticut on Friday in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off. The Blue Devils claimed the tournament title for the fourth time in school history with senior Jon Scheyer grabbing Most Outstanding Player honors.

Scheyer finished with a game-high 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Nolan Smith, an all-tournament team selection, had 16 points and freshman Andre Dawkins added 11 points.

Senior Lance Thomas recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Brian Zoubek also grabbed 11 boards (seven offensive). Duke held a 56-43 edge on the glass for the game and finished with 25 offensive rebounds.

Big Ten/ACC Challenge History

Duke is 10-0 all-time in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, including an 82-58 win over Wisconsin on Nov. 27, 2007. The Blue Devils have won three true road games in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and are one of two undefeated teams (Boston College [3-0] is the other) in the event. The ACC has won all 10 challenges to date.

Numbers Game

l The Blue Devils have won seven of their last eight games against Big Ten opponents. Duke is 62-24 all-time against the conference.

l The Atlantic Coast Conference has won the previous 10 Big Ten/ACC Challenges. The ACC is 62-35 (.639) in the event, including a 10-0 slate by Duke.

l Duke has won seven of its 10 Big Ten/ACC Challenge games away from Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils are 4-0 in neutral site games and 3-0 on the road.

l The Blue Devils are 156-25 in the month of December under Coach K. Duke has won three straight games and is 48-3 since the 1999-2000 season in December contests.

l Junior Nolan Smith has reached double figures in scoring in four straight games. He is averaging 18.5 points per game, a scoring jump of +10.1 ppg. from a year ago.

l Jon Scheyer has 32 assists and just four turnovers in 208 minutes of action on the year. The Northbrook, Ill., native has led the Blue Devils in assists in all six games and leads the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 8.0:1. He is also tied for fifth in the league in assists per game (5.3).

l Andre Dawkins leads the ACC in three-point field goals (2.7 3pg.) and has made two or more threes in five of six games. Dawkins is 10-of-14 (.714) from three-point range in the last three games.

l Senior Brian Zoubek leads the team and ranks ninth in the ACC in rebounding at 8.5 rpg. He is tied for the league lead in offensive rebounds at 4.8 orpg. Zoubek, who will play in his 100th career game on Wednesday, entered the season averaging 3.1 rebounds per game.

l Junior Kyle Singler has made at least one three-point field goal in 21 straight games dating back to last season. He is eighth in the ACC in three-point percentage (.414) and tied for 10th in three-point field goals per game (2.0) on the year.

l Duke has held its last five opponents under 40 percent shooting from the field. The Blue Devils are 297-9 under Mike Krzyzewski when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting.

l Duke shot just 28.4 percent from the field in Friday's win over Connecticut, marking just the fourth time under Coach K the Blue Devils have shot below 30.0 percent in a game. Prior to Friday’s contest, Duke's last win when shooting under 30.0 percent was Feb. 4, 1950 against Navy.

l Duke outrebounded Connecticut, 56-43, marking the sixth time the Blue Devils have outrebounded the opposition this season. Duke is 483-55 under Mike Krzyzewski when holding the edge on the boards.

l Nolan Smith has played all 40 minutes in each of the last two games.

l Duke held Connecticut without a three-point field goal in last Friday’s win. The Blue Devils are allowing just 3.7 three-point field goals per game on the year.

Duke Basketball

ACC – Big Ten Challenge Preview: Wisconsin Badgers

DukeDuke (6-0) takes on the Wisconsin Badgers (4-1) in the 11th annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge on December 2nd, in their first true road game of the young season. The two teams last faced each other two years ago with the Blue Devils pounding the Badgers 82 - 58. In last year's event, Duke defeated Purdue 76 - 60, while Wisconsin beat Virginia Tech 74 - 72. Duke has a perfect 10 - 0 record in the challenge, while Wisconsin is 4 - 6.

Wisconsin is coming off a 20 - 13 season where they advanced to the NCAA tournament before falling to Xavier 60 - 49 in the second round.

Coach Bo Ryan will rely upon a pair of senior guards to lead his team, Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon. Both players started all 33 games last season and averaged 12.1 and 10.3 points per game respectively. Across the front line, Wisconsin is big and athletic. Junior Jon Leuer (6-10, 225) started 12 games and averaged 8.8 points and 3.8 rebounds as a sophomore. Junior Keaton Nankivil (6-8, 240) started 20 games and averaged 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds last season. Several players will compete to be the fifth starter: redshirt freshman Ryan Evans (6-6, 195), sophomore Rob Wilson (6-4, 175), and junior Tim Jarmusz (6-6, 210).

The reports coming out of Madison indicate this year's team will look to push the ball up the floor in order to force a more up tempo game pace. Wisconsin has traditionally played a grind it out style with emphasis on defense. During pick-up games over the summer, Wisconsin players were practicing with a 25 second shot clock to discourage the tendency to walk the ball up the court.

Through the season’s first five games, the Badgers are averaging 67.4 points per game while holding their opponents to 58.2 points so the early season games do not provide any evidence the Badgers have actually changed their style. Wisconsin’s one loss was to Gonzaga, 74 – 61, in the semi-finals of the Maui Invitational. The Badgers rebounded by defeating Maryland, 78 – 69, in the 3rd Place game.

The media has predicted Wisconsin will finish 9th in the Big Ten this season, but no Bo Ryan coached Wisconsin team has ever finished worse than 4th. This will surely be bulletin board material for the Badgers and there would be no better way to silence the media doubters than an early season defeat of Duke so the Badgers will be motivated when the Blue Devils arrive at the Kohl Center.

For the Blue Devils, this will be their first true road game of the season. With a hostile crowd cheering on the Badgers, Duke’s players must keep their emotions in check and execute Coach Krzyzewski’s game plan. Playing in big games is old hat for Duke so the experienced Blue Devils should have no problem coping with the atmosphere in Madison.

The keys to the game will be:

1. Duke must contain speedy point guard Trevon Hughes. Duke cannot allow Hughes to dictate the game so it is imperative Nolan Smith plays solid defense and avoids foul trouble. The Smith – Hughes match-up will be critical to the outcome of this contest. Hughes is averaging 14.2 points per game this season.

2. Duke’s inside players must equal Wisconsin’s physicality. Duke has more depth on the interior so Miles Plumlee, Brian Zoubek, Lance Thomas, and Ryan Kelly must take advantage by attacking the basket and drawing fouls. This game represents a second straight litmus test for Duke’s assertion they are a bigger team this season. Duke’s big men must play big against the Badgers, like they did in the win over the UConn Huskies, and out rebound the Badgers.

3. The team that takes better care of the basketball will gain an advantage. In games with slower tempo, it is imperative to not lose scoring opportunities. Duke has 99 assists against 66 turnovers through six games with guard Jon Scheyer leading the way with an 8:1 assists/turnover ratio. The Badgers have 61 assists against 60 turnovers in five games.

4. Exploiting Kyle Singler’s versatility and capitalizing on mismatches. Singler is an All America quality player who had subpar offensive performances during Duke’s two recent games at Madison Square Garden. If Singler is on track against Wisconsin, it will help open up good looks at the basket for Duke’s other players.

Wisconsin will be a solid early season road test for Duke such as Purdue and Michigan were last season. This will be Duke’s only true road game prior to playing at Georgia Tech in January. The game has the makings to be a competitive challenge for the Blue Devils.

Duke Basketball

Duke defense shuts down Huskies in 68-59 win

Nolan Smith - Duke Photo
Nolan Smith - Duke Photo

New York - The game that started with more wins between the coaches than any in Division I history was far from an instant classic.

Duke and Connecticut combined to miss a total of 90 shots from the field, and the team that missed more of them rebounded its way to another big win at Madison Square Garden.

Seventh-ranked Duke and Mike Krzyzewski won another NIT Season Tip-Off on Friday with a 68-59 victory over No. 13 Connecticut and Jim Calhoun.

The Hall of Fame coaches set the record for total career wins in a game and Krzyzewski now has 839, fourth on the all-time list, and Calhoun still has 809, good for sixth place.

"It was a big-time game, shots were so hard to come by, open shots. Both teams are very, very good defensively and you know, you get by one guy and it's hard to get to the bucket," Krzyzewski said. "But we rebounded very well and we played outstanding defense."

The Blue Devils (6-0) dominated the Huskies (4-1) in every category except shooting in extending their winning streak in the tournament to 12 games with a third straight title (2000, 2005) and fourth overall (1985).

Duke shot 28.4 percent (21 of 74) compared to Connecticut's 37.3 percent (22 of 59), but the Blue Devils finished with a 56-43 rebound advantage, including 25-14 on the offensive boards.

"We missed 53 shots and we had 56 rebounds, you know?" Krzyzewski said. "It's a very unusual game, but it's a game where both teams played with a lot of heart, and we feel very fortunate to win this game and win the NIT championship."

The victory also snapped Connecticut's four-game winning streak in the series with the last two victories both coming in Final Fours - the 1999 national championship game and the 2004 semifinals.

It was the first time Duke won a game shooting under 30 percent since a 68-53 victory over Navy on Feb. 4, 1950, when the Blue Devils shot 27.3 percent.

"The last time we lost a game when we held a team to eight field goals in the second half and 28 percent shooting, I can't remember," Calhoun said. "Quite frankly, they outwilled us and did the things you need to do to win a game."

Tournament MVP Jon Scheyer had 19 points to lead Duke, which has won five straight games and 12 of its last 13 at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils extended their winning streak in November to 22 straight games and that will stand for 11 months because their next game is against Wisconsin on Dec. 2.

Nolan Smith had 16 points and Lance Thomas added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Duke, which beat Arizona State 64-53 in the semifinals.

"Our defense was really great and it had to be since we shot the ball so poorly," Scheyer said. "Defense won this game and our big guys rebounded huge for our team."

Jerome Dyson had 15 points and Gavin Edwards added 12 for the Huskies, who beat LSU 81-55 to get to their first championship game in three NIT Season Tip-Off appearances.

"They just wanted the offensive rebounds more than us and that killed us," Dyson said.

Duke was able to take a 37-28 halftime lead with an 8-2 run in an ugly last 4 minutes. Kyle Singler, who had his second straight poor shooting game, hit a 3 with 4:17 left that gave the Blue Devils a 32-26 lead. That was Duke's last field goal of the half and the Huskies had just one in that span, a drive by Stanley Robinson with 51 seconds left that made it 37-28.

The second half was Duke's in a hurry.

The Blue Devils used a 12-0 run - during which five players scored - to go ahead 53-34 with 13:18 to play. Calhoun called two timeouts in a 1:13 span in the run - he had already called one 1:30 into the half - to try and slow things down but the Blue Devils were scoring from the perimeter and overpowering the Huskies down low.

Duke finished 6 for 18 from 3-point range while the Huskies didn't make any in four attempts.

"I didn't want them taking 3s," Calhoun said of his team, "I thought we had the quickness to go by them. (Duke) didn't score on nine of 10 trips at one point in the second half but we scored on one of those. They outquicked us to the ball when they needed to get it to the offensive end, which is something that can't happen to us."

The Blue Devils even stayed with Connecticut in blocked shots, not an easy thing to do since the Huskies have led the nation in that stat the last eight seasons - and they averaged 10.3 coming in. The Huskies blocked 13 in each of their last two games, a total Duke managed in all five games combined. Connecticut finished with nine, two more than the Blue Devils.

"Our big guys were coming over and at least if they didn't take charges, they were trying to take charges and they got a few blocks. They distracted the shooter, kind of like how they did to us," Krzyzewski said of his team's help defense. "I thought shooters in the lane today was not a good place to shoot the ball. There were a lot of distractions defensively being made by both teams for those shooters."

Connecticut did get within single digits with a 12-2 run that made it 62-54 with 52 seconds to play.

"I'm appalled by the lack of rebounding by us as a team," Calhoun said. "You can't beat anybody if they get 25 offensive rebounds. If you hold somebody to 28 percent, you can't lose, but if you give them 25 offensive rebounds and can't make a shot, you can get some problems."

Duke Basketball

Duke 68 UConn 59 – Coach K quotes

Connecticut Duke BasketballBDN will have more coverage to come but until then, here is Coach K's post game comments-

MODERATOR:  Coach will make an opening statement and then he'll take questions.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  It's a big‑time game.  Shots were so hard to come by.  Open shots.  Both teams are very, very good defensively.  And you know, you get by one guy and you can't ‑‑ it's hard to get to the bucket.  You know?  And we've not experienced a team like that this year.

But we rebounded very well.  We played outstanding defense.  And I thought Thomas and Zoubek were the difference‑makers for us.  Because I mean they both had 11 rebounds.  And Zoubek I thought had the biggest play in the first half where he got the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Singler for a 3 because points were tough to come by.  And in the second half he got one, and I don't know how he got it out to Scheyer in the corner.  He got it through about four guys and Scheyer hit that 3.  And so on two of his offensive rebounds we got 6 points.

We didn't give up a 3 today.  So when you get two possessions in this game, where you get 6 points, that's a lot.  We missed 53 shots and we had 56 rebounds.  You know, that's a very unusual game.

But it's a game where both teams played with a lot of heart and we feel very privileged to have won this game and the NIT Championship with the Carlesimo name on it.  The Carlesimo family is like family to me and my family.  The trophy is named after one of the great, great men in college basketball history.  So it was nice to see Lucy.  We call her "Lucia" from the Barcelona Olympics.  That's a good thing.

Any questions.

Q.  Doug Gottlieb called your team alarmingly unathletic.  Did you think today answered that question pretty emphatically?

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  He should be an expert on alarmingly non‑athletic.  So I'll have to take a look at that a little bit closer because it comes from an expert who actually knows what it feels like to be alarmingly non‑athletic.

Actually, we're pretty athletic; we're just not as athletic as Connecticut.  Singler is a really good athlete.  Lance, Miles.  Jon is not leaping tall buildings with a single bound but he's a real good athlete.  But I wouldn't call us like this athletic team, but we're not amazingly non‑athletic.  And I would rather not get into a discussion with Doug because I have respect of his stature and he should have his arguments with people of similar stature.  That would be a good thing.

Q.  Stopping the transition was obviously a key.  How did you do that in the first half?

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  Well, we didn't for a while.  Walker, he's a jet.  We had Wojo scout for this team and I said, "You said he was quick, you didn't say that he was that quick."  And we adjusted our defense.  What we normally do with a point guard like that is try to corral him at half court with the second big, you know, just to hold him back.  And we couldn't get back in time to do that.  So after the first TV time‑out, instead of 21 which is our half‑court defense, we went top of the key 11 and just said, "Get back.  Don't worry about corral."  Everybody is responsible for corralling him, and I thought the rest of the game we did a fairly good job of it.

Q.  25 offensive rebounds on a team like UCONN with their size and athleticism; what do you chalk that up to?

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  Well, we're big too.  Non‑athletic but very big.  And so ‑‑ Zoubek and Thomas were huge.  We do run sets where our perimeter guys take shots.  They took a lot of shots and they should take lot of shots.  Our big guys are accustomed to know when those guys take their shots.  So we've been working a lot on trying to position ourselves in places where we might get that reshot.

Q.  Did you notice anything as far as UCONN leaking out early?

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  They did.

Q.  Was that something you could take advantage of?

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  I didn't think we could take advantage of ‑‑ I just didn't want ‑‑ they beat us a couple of times early.  They blew by us for about six minutes.  And then we knew ‑‑ we knew we shouldn't fast break, try to fast break with them the whole game unless we got a turnover.

Q.  Meaning that if they're going ‑‑

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  No, no, we have an extra guy on the boards to crash.  We discussed that.  But I don't think that was ‑‑ the guys who got the most offensive rebounds were the guys that had on their bigs.  They almost made some big plays.  We couldn't put the ball back in the basket.  A lot of it has to do with their shot‑blocking ability.

Q.  In the second half, especially in the second half, even when their guards would get into the lane, can you talk about your help defense?

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  That's again the big guys were coming over.  And at least if they didn't take charges, they were trying to take charges, they got a few blocks.  But they distracted the shooter.  Kind of like how they did to us.

I thought shooters in the lane today was not a good place to shoot the ball.  You know, there was a lot of distractions defensively being made by both teams for those shooters.

Q.  Can you talk about Jon Scheyer's game?  19‑5‑5.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  Jon is a terrific player.  He's a terrific basketball player.  He has a great feel for the game.  And because he's almost an automatic free‑throw shooter, he's dangerous especially at the end of the game.  He values the ball.  And although he's not making a lot of great passes, he's not making hardly any turnovers.  And he makes simple passes and I think ‑‑ now he has four turnovers for the year.  He's the most important player we have, Jon is.  Just because he has to have the ball so much.

Q.  Kyle, 2‑of‑12, 6 points, he shoots 29 percent.  I told you those numbers coming into the game.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  I would have been very worried or mad at you.  I would have told you to go talk to Doug Gottlieb.  You don't have to do that by the way.  I won't punish you like that.

Kyle made two bad fouls.  I think the nature of the game he slapped down twice and he just can't do that.  From then on, we're massaging the game and then he gets three.  And so you talk ‑‑ I hate to talk with words like "flow" ‑‑ he never got in the rhythm of the game.  He never got in the rhythm of the game.  But still, defensively he was on Robinson.  I mean, they kind of negated one another.  Robinson ‑‑ their perimeter is very, very athletic.  Robinson is a big‑time athlete.

Q.  When you win a game like this, do you leave here feeling pretty good?

We'll have more on the game a bit later but here are Coach K's post game comments.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  Oh, yeah, we feel great.  We played against two different types of teams and two teams that I think are going to be in contention in their conference coverages.

We're still missing one of our kids.  Mason Plumlee who I think will be a big addition to our team.

The other kid I want to mention is Andre Dawkins.  Both of these games he didn't play like a freshman.  He was very, very good, very good in both games.  And that gives us a little bit more depth on the perimeter.

THE MODERATOR:  Last question?

Q.  What kind of role do you foresee for him as this develops and he gets more experience?

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI:  He got good time today.  He's playing behind our three best players.  So the fact he's going to be the first guy off the bench.  He can play off those guys because he's as good a shooter as we have.  And then if we ever did want to go small and put Kyle at the four, he could be ‑‑ we did have that lineup in for a little bit.

But then the fouls ‑‑ actually, we got a big bucket when we had Kyle at the four.  And then we got in foul trouble and we had to get away from it.  Andre has been really good for us.

Thank you.