DURHAM, N.C. — Duke’s most important games have arrived, the ones that will define how coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season is looked upon from this point forward.
So when the Blue Devils start NCAA tournament play Friday night against Cal State Fullerton in Greenville, South Carolina, they desperately need someone, anyone, to step up and be a defensive stopper on the perimeter.
For all the success No. 9-ranked Duke experienced this season, placing first outright in the ACC regular season since 2006, picking up wins over Gonzaga and Kentucky back in November, none of that matters if the Blue Devils don’t fix their ailing defense and advance through the NCAA tournament.
Krzyzewski himself made that clear on Sunday, after his team was seeded No. 2 in the West Region behind the tournament’s top overall seed, Gonzaga.
“I think our group overall had a terrific year,” Krzyzewski said. “The thing that waned at the end was a lack of practice time. I thought our guys got worn out and we compensated by trying not to wear them out as a result. I thought our defense really took a dip. Before this next game, we have to get back to playing Duke defense. We’ll have a better chance of winning if we can do that.”
The numbers are stark as Duke went 2-2 over its last four games, losing 94-81 in the regular-season finale before reaching the ACC title game where it lost 82-67 to Virginia Tech.
Per Ken Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency statistics, Duke’s worst games were the UNC and Virginia Tech losses, where the Blue Devils allowed the Tar Heels to score 1.25 points per possession while the Hokies scored 1.24.
It’s a continuation of a late-season slump where the Blue Devils lost their edge, their grit and their effectiveness on defense.
In nine of their last 12 games, they’ve allowed teams to score 1.03 points per possession or better. Duke’s season average is .957 points per possession, which has fallen to No. 44 nationally.
Just nine games ago, on Feb. 14, Duke sat at No. 18 nationally allowing .909 points per possession. But they’ve allowed teams to score more than a point per possession in eight of nine games since then.
Duke has the players to be good on defense, as evidenced by their play earlier in the season. After Duke won 57-43 at Notre Dame on Jan. 31, Irish coach Mike Brey marveled at how Duke `swarmed’ in limiting his team to 27.9% shooting.
“We’ve had Kentucky come through here, we’ve had Carolina come through here with bodies,” Brey said that night. “Ain’t nobody got bodies like these guys. And so how do we combat that? We make 3s. We couldn’t do it and I think I got to give them a lot of credit. They were just on us.”
Krzyzewski’s plan is to use practice time this week to shore up his team’s recent shortcomings. Duke didn’t have that luxury at the ACC tournament, playing three games in three days.
But the Blue Devils did have time between that UNC loss, where the Tar Heels shot 59.4% in the second half to ruin Krzyzewski’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the ACC tournament.
Even that loss to a bitter rival, in front of nearly 100 former players and managers, didn’t spur the team to improve its defense for its ACC tournament title chase that fell a win short.
Leaving Virginia Tech guard Hunter Cattoor open for far too many shots on the perimeter, where he made 7 of 10 3-pointers to score 31 points, doomed Duke in its ACC title game loss.
The Blue Devils have a solid rim protector in sophomore center Mark Williams, the ACC defensive player of the year who led the league in blocked shots at 2.8 per game.
The problems are occurring on the perimeter, which includes situations where Duke’s strategy of switching defenders all over the court to mitigate screens leaves Williams 20 feet from the basket guarding a strong ball-handler.
That’s not the biggest problem, though. The issues Krzyzewski and his staff are working to correct include guards like Trevor Keels, Jeremy Roach or Wendell Moore, Jr., not closing out on shooters to make them uncomfortable. It’s those same players getting caught up in screens despite the switches.
“I think our communication has been a little off,” Moore said. “I definitely feel like the effort is there from all of our guys. I feel like we’re a little late on talks, a little late on the switches. So again that’s all little things we can clean up, so we have a couple days to prep for it.”
Working on it and producing it have proven problematic lately.
Duke’s opponents have made 41.3% of their shots this season, which has the Blue Devils No. 90 nationally in field goal percentage defense. They built that ranking with strong defense early in the season, like when Kentucky hit only 37.7% of their shots when Duke won 79-71 on Nov. 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
In nine of Duke’s 20 ACC regular season games, its foes shot 41.3% or worse. But that’s only happened once in the Blue Devils’ last nine games, including the ACC tournament, as they enter the NCAA tournament.
Can Duke regain that edge, particularly as it faces veteran teams in tournament play? Krzyzewski and his staff are stressing this in practices this week. But only the players can answer that question.
It starts against Big West Conference champion Cal State Fullerton, whose starting lineup is packed with juniors and seniors. Though the Titans have only hit 44.7% of their shots this season, they shot 52.1% while beating Long Beach State, 72-71, in the Big West tournament championship game on Saturday.
Moore, a Duke team captain along with senior reserve Joey Baker, still believes his teammates have the hunger they need to play at their best.
“Extremely hungry, extremely motivated,” Moore said. “We definitely feel like we have something to prove every time we step out on that court, so now we get a chance to prove it for one last time.”
