Duke beats Carolina, but doubts linger
Duke looked every bit like a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in an 89-78 road victory against North Carolina on Wednesday.
The Blue Devils (20-1) hit 13-of-29 three-pointers, made five fewer turnovers in a raucous Dean Dome and their defense hounded UNC’s Wayne Ellington (16.2 ppg) and Danny Green (12.1 ppg) into a nightmarish shooting night. Combined, they were 4-of-24 from the field for 11 points. Without point guard Ty Lawson, UNC’s offense never got on track despite 28 points from Tyler Hansbrough.
In short, Duke looked like Duke. And Duke’s been a No. 1 seed eight of the last 10 seasons. A game like that will go a long way to making it nine of 11.
But that brushes over the nagging thought from Wednesday’s game: If Duke played that great and UNC only lost by 11 points, does that mean Duke’s hit its ceiling?
That is, if the Devils play UNC – or another team with Carolina’s depth and balance, like Memphis, Kansas, UCLA or Georgetown –in the NCAA Tournament, what are the odds they make 13 threes? Or benefit by playing an injured or struggling team?
After all, it seems strange to think that Duke is a team without room for error when March rolls around because that kind of hot shooting doesn’t last.
(Consider a team like Tennessee, which wore down perimeter-oriented Florida on Tuesday. The Vols are long, athletic and relentless on the perimeter. As good as Duke is, it’s hard to believe they’d get the same looks beyond the arc.)
That probably comes off as Duke bashing, but there’s no other way to put it. Duke looked great against Carolina (21-2). It made plays when needed, hit shots and free throws down the stretch and basically owned Carolina. That’s a helluva win. The Devils were aggressive and energetic and it showed in the final score. That’s something to be proud of and relish until the rematch in Cameron.
“They’re pretty special right now,” Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said afterward. “We know who we are. We’re a very unconventional team. We’re not a strong physical team, but we are strong team emotionally, a real together group.
“You have to hope you don’t get killed by a team for a stretch by their strength. You have to find a way and because we have versatile players we’ve been able to do that so far.”
Coach K knows what he has. He’s set up a Phoenix Suns-like offense that relies on dribble penetration and kick outs for threes (pretty much what Duke’s done for years), making his squad deadly when it hits those shots.
Yet, Duke surely knows it didn’t get Carolina’s best game.
“It was just one of those nights,” Ellington said. “We couldn’t get the ball to fall.”
Without Lawson, UNC struggled in transition and had trouble getting players like Green and Ellington open looks. Credit goes to Duke’s defense, but Lawson’s absence was apparent throughout. Would he be worth 11 points? Almost certainly.
This isn’t to say Carolina will win in Durham if Lawson’s healthy. The Heels will have to improve that perimeter defense – like Duke’s gonna stop shooting – and ensure Green and Ellington don’t start slow. And even all that may not be enough.
But it’s enough to sew doubt in my mind about Duke. In March, being one-dimensional is just too risky.
