On Monday night, Duke will emerge from a 13 day break for final exams, a time when the players hit the books, then hit the practice courts. After a 7-2 start, there are changes which I’d like to see happen.
Now, before going too far, I need to express that I have the utmost respect for Coach K. I’ve written time-and-time-again that I believe that he is the greatest living coach in college basketball, and maybe of all time.
That said, I’m sure he’d agree with me that he has not yet earned his halo, and still puts his pants on one leg at a time.
I guess my biggest question is why, after proclaiming that this year’s squad would have a very different look from previous ones, he has reverted to playing his usual 7-8 players. I would have thought that with such talent and depth of this team, he’d play more guys.
Before the season, Rowan Shiell and I did a day-by-day examination of this year’s squad, dedicating each day to each player. I came away being very excited because of that talent and depth. I came to the conclusion that the biggest challenge this year would be for everyone to learn to play with any different combination of players on the floor at any one time.
Boy-oh-boy, was I wrong to think that this squad would be utilized 10-12 players deep. The problem is that I don’t understand why they aren’t.
I took Coach K’s statement as meaning that since they’d almost always be the smaller squad, they would have to run … and when you run, you need to give each guy a “blow” or they all end up with tired legs. Looking back, I think we could all recall just how many of those wins were almost losses because of tired players.
Recently, Coach K did an interview with USA Today’s Nicole Auerbach and characterized this year’s challenges this way:
“Last year, you guys were in a drama. This year, for lack of a better term, you’re in an action movie. The role you played in a drama, you were good at. It’s a different role.”
I agree completely. A drama is defined by the proper Oxford as:
“… an exciting, emotional, or unexpected series of events or set of circumstances …”
An action movie, by comparison, is a constant, frenetic event from start to finish designed so that the victor emerges based on being able to maintain their intensity. Maintaining intensity can take it’s toll on even the most fit of teams. That toll is easy to recognize. Tired legs make shots miss short and defensive efforts wane.
So, my question is simply to ask why the bench is not getting more playing time. It’s not like they are not talented players. Each guy has had a period in a game where they shined just as brightly as any Starter, but yet they languish on the bench when the Starters are struggling. I don’t get it.
I’m not focusing on Rasheed Sulaimon sitting for the whole Michigan game, or even the unfortunate exit of Alex Murphy. I’m talking about everyone else not being utilized when the Starters are not playing like Starters.
Aside from seeing the effects of tired legs in their shooting, it also showed itself in their defense.
* – Against Vermont, they allowed 16 “back-door” scores for 32 points
* – Against Arizona, they allowed 12 scores “down low” for 24 points against a very immature “big”
*- Against Alabama, they gave up 7 second chance scores and were outscored 8 times in the Paint for a net 30 points that had to be made up otherwise.
* – Against Michigan, they were just plain lucky that the Wolverines were very much out of sync.
The common thread in each of these examples was that they consistently gave away the Base Line, failed to “box out,” and never fought for “second chance” points off the offensive boards.
I maintain that this happens because the players are tired and/or concerned with getting into foul trouble. Both concerns are diminished by playing the bench more, and with the players available to Coach K, he gives away little.
The other concern I’ve seen is that when the rest of the squad is floundering, Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood try to put the team on their backs. This has caused the rest of the players to stand around, flat-footed, to watch or admire their talents. This allows the opponents to safely double-team them. Now, while that doesn’t seem to bother Jabari, some opponent will soon realize that Rodney is easier to defend by denying his left hand tendencies which are quite prevalent.
As we stand today, Andre Dawkins is the #8 man by minutes, followed by Matt Jones, then Semi, Alex, and Marshall Plumlee respectfully. To my recollection, not one of them squandered their time on the floor and put Duke at a disadvantage.
So, my plea to Coach K would be to please get everyone involved. You recruited each of those guys for a reason. I know you didn’t do so because they looked good in a Duke uniform sitting on the bench.
