Watching the Duke game last night sparked a few thoughts in my mind...
- Villanova's defense was really good. They out-Duked Duke wiith their physical play. Duke players didn't make a cut without a hand on their hip nor could they turn and face their defender without ball pressure. This continuous press wore the Blue Devils down.
- Gerald Henderson's foul trouble hurt the Blue Devils in that Duke didn't have another player that forced Villanova into help situations. Duke often used Gerald Henderson to drive to the basket and force other players to help. In the situations where no help comes, Henderson takes the ball to the basket and scores or gets fouled. When the help comes, Henderson kicks out to a shooter or starts a ball reversal which often ends up in an open shot.
The fact is Duke settled for jumpshots due to the two points above. Take a look at the graphic below that shows all of the shots that Duke took in two games. One game was last night's game, while the other took place since Duke started tournament play.
Game A: Duke/Villanova
Game B was against a team that boasted the tallest front line in the nation going 6'9",6'10", 7'2". Despite this, look at the concentration of shots within the paint.
Further, compare the number of bad two point shots in the two games. This would be a shot outside of the paint, but inside the three point line. In Game A, Duke took twice as many bad two point shots as in Game B.
In case you were still wondering...
Game B: Duke/FSU - ACC Championship
Duke got completely away from their style last night. They panicked when they got down 10 points in the second half. They started to take shots without moving the ball around on offense and on defense, they gambled and gave Villanova easy baskets.
Duke now looks to next season and hopes for the return of Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson. While Kyle Singler says he will return, Gerald Henderson is not so sure.
