Tag Archives: Duke-Michigan

Duke Women's Basketball

Duke Women shut down Michigan 60-45

[private]CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM -The Duke Women's Basketball used a suffocating defense to defeat Michigan 60-45 which pushed their record to 6-1.  The Blue Devils held the Wolverines to just 29% shooting from the field where they completely controlled the paint.  In fact, Duke outrebounded their opponent 46-22.

“This was obviously a great game for us to get better. I really appreciated the way the team came out in the second half in particular and really found each other. They took apart the defense and did a really sharp job there. I like the balanced scoring, everyone was active in attacking, and to out-rebound them by 24 was significant. We have not been dominating on the boards. It’s important for us to be dominating, to create that habit. We’re still working on getting to the free throw line and playing more physically. No, I don’t like the turnover number, but I understand the issues at hand right now and we’ll move forward and learn from those things. I thought that there was great leadership on the floor at all different points, whether it was Abby [Waner] leading and having to play a whole lot of minutes out there, or Carrem Gay who did some great things, really leading us defensively.  We had solid senior leadership in this game," stated Coach McCallie.

Duke was led in scoring by Chante Black with 13 points and had by four total players in double figures.  Black also had 6 blocks moving her to seventh place on the All Time ACC list.

“I watched film after games and I saw that there are times when I can be a little more aggressive calling for the ball. I just tried to be a little more active this game and try and get the defense to make mistakes. And my teammates did a good job looking for me and seeing that I was open," stated Gay when questioned about her being aggressive on the offensive end.

Joy Cheek and Abby Waner were the other two Dukies in double figure scoring with 12 and 11 points respectively.  Cheek had back to back three pointers in the contest while Waner tallied three total treys.

Speaking of treys, Michigan had trouble finding anything inside against the Duke defense.  A total of 30 of their 45 points came from beyond the three point stripe.

In somewhat of a statistical anomaly, Michigan made 20 steals, many due to a Duke season high 30 turnovers.

With PG's Jasmine Thomas and Chelsea Hopkins out, you could sense a need for consistency in play making.

Keturah Jackson ran the point and had four assists, but she missed the last ten minutes with a hip pointer.  While she is expected back for the Stanford game, the early season injuries on Blue Devil guards have been brutal.

The Blue Devils will now concentrate on the classroom during their exam break before facing their most formidable challenge of the young season in a home game against Stanford.   Their are still some seats available and the contest tips off on December 16th at 7:30 and will be televised by ESPN.[/private]

Duke Basketball

Blue Devils go to 5-0 by defeating Michigan

[private]The Duke Men's Basketball team went to 5-0 on the young season defeating Michigan 71-56 to win the 2K Coaches for Cancer Classic.  Michigan an upstart winner over #4 UCLA struggled against the Devils vaunted man to man defense.

Duke held the Wolverines to 35% from the field and shut down the majority of their scorers in the process.  Duke travels to Ann Arbor on December 6th for a rematch.

Duke was led in scoring by Nolan Smith (16 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds) and Kyle Singler (15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists). 

Singler was named the tournaments Most Valuable Player after his well rounded performances. 

“Kyle is one of the best players in the country and knows how and wants to play defense. With his length, throughout his career when he is a pro player, he will be playing out in the perimeter all of the time.  We like to use our guys in that manner," stated Krzyzewski.

Duke was once  aided by free throw shooting, going to the line 25 times while making 19 of them.

While the victory wasn't always a pretty win on the eyes, the defensive efforts was text book.  One must remember that the ideal time for a team to blossom is March and not November.

Duke is still a team searching for the right chemistry and in doing so they will play several lineups and styles.  Last evening it appeared that Duke chose not to push the ball up the floor and worked more on their half court sets.

There were several positives coming from New York besides the victory.  The continued improvement of Brian Zoubek was huge and if this continues it will no doubt make Duke a stronger team this season.

The two games also allowed talented junior Gerald Henderson to assert himself.  His play landed him on the all tournament team.

Duke has a brief moment of rest before rolling back into Cameron Indoor Stadium for a 1:00 game with Montana.  The game as always will be televised - this time on FSN-South or NESN.[/private]

Duke Basketball

It’s Duke vs Michigan I at MSG – preview and pick

[private]While many fans were expecting UCLA to be in the finals, the Wolverines proved that their program was on the upswing with a 55-52 upset win.  Much of this is due to their new coach John Beilein who has his club at 3-0.

Many of you will remember Beilein as the coach of an inspired West Virginia team which knocked Duke out of the NCAA's last season.  That is one of the main story lines going in.  Another story line is that the Blue Devils travel to Ann Arbor on December 6th, meaning these two clubs twice in 15 days.

Michigan employs a tricky 1-3-1 zone which befuddled the Bruins.  The Wolverines got 19 points from DeShaun Sims who controlled the game in the paint.  Then there is Manny Harris and a cast of kids who can shoot the three, a Beilein trademark.

Duke shot more free throws than Michigan and UCLA hit and missed combined.  It's no secret that the Blue Devils will hope to get to the line again and I expect to see the ball go inside early and often in that Beilein will defend the three with his zone.

Another key will be which team dictates their tempo.  Duke wants to run up and down, while Michigan will be a bit more controlled or methodical.  Both teams have now adjusted to New York, but it's a mystery as to whether Michigan will play loose.  For that matter, Duke was pretty tight in the first half with their offense struggling.

I think Michigan will come out strong and implement their game plan, but as the game goes on, Duke will find a way to counter.  Once Duke has Michigan playing in transition, fouls should mount up.  Then again, if the 1-3-1 zone works as it's suppose to, passing lanes and relocation of the ball is difficult, which would force Duke to seek cutters to the rim.

While this may sound odd, if you are watching on TV, the rim to the right is extremely tight, while the one on the left seems loose.  This was evident to me in last seasons Duke-Pitt game.  In short, lets hope the Devils have the left rim last.

The pick here is Duke 84 Michigan 65[/private]