Blue Devils thrive despite cold outside shooting

Nolan Smith had three steals and played efficient perimeter defense in Duke’s 79-59 win.
Nolan Smith had three steals and played efficient perimeter defense in Duke’s 79-59 win.

Just like in the defeat Saturday at the hands of Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils failed to shoot the 3-pointer effectively. This time, however, Duke was able to use its balance offensively and create offense out of its defense to offset a 1-for-12 shooting night from downtown.

“We’re not going to live and die by the three this year,” guard Nolan Smith said. “When the threes aren’t falling, we showed that we have other ways to score.”

Coming out of the locker room at halftime and clinging to a three-point lead after Boston College played a scrappy first half and managed to finish effectively around the basket, a different Duke team emerged and never looked back. By the first TV timeout of the second half, the narrow lead had ballooned to 15 points, and Eagles head coach Al Skinner had already burned two timeouts.

The Duke coaching staff is obviously putting emphasis on the need to apply suffocating full-court on-ball pressure. Given the combination of length, athleticism and depth that this team possesses, turning up the defensive intensity can fluster the opposing team’s backcourt and lead to a barrage of turnovers.  

Using that formula, the Blue Devils were able to reel off a 22-6 run to start the second period. With Smith spearheading the defensive pressure and pestering Boston College’s primary ballhandlers, Reggie Jackson and Biko Paris, Duke forced four turnovers in the first five minutes of the second half.

“It started with our defense once again,” forward Miles Plumlee said. “We were able to break that lead open and force them to take some timeouts.”

Cranking up the heat defensively paid dividends, as many of these turnovers were converted into high-percentage shots in transition. Beyond just the turnovers Duke was able to force—Boston College gave the ball up four times in the game-deciding run—speeding up the game and maintaining an impressive 40-27 rebound edge on the boards created many opportunities to get out and run, something Duke has done infrequently this year.

“The live-ball turnovers were the key to the win in the first four minutes [of the second half],” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “When our defense can force some turnovers and we are unselfish on the break, then the bucket gets a little bigger.”

As effective as the Blue Devils have been while relying on Smith, Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer, especially late in the shot clock, the team is more dangerous when opposing defenses are forced to defend all five players on the court. On the fast break, the guards are able to distribute to the frontcourt players that excel at running the court––such as the Plumlee brothers and Lance Thomas––and create a more balanced attack offensively.

Both Brian Zoubek and Miles Plumlee chipped in with significant contributions on the offensive end Wednesday. The pair combined for 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and created most of its offense by doing the dirty work around the basket. Krzyzewski noted that by combining their numbers at the center position, the collective outcome would be a very impressive 18 points and 16 rebounds. While no single Duke frontcourt player has the ability to dominate a game from the inside, as a group they can provide adequate production, and they did so last night.

While neither Mason Plumlee nor Andre Dawkins provided much of a spark against the Eagles, the supporting cast is noticing that the 3-pointer becomes less important when the rest of the team is able to create some offensive output.

“It gives us a lot more confidence as a team,” Miles Plumlee said. “With the whole team working together, even when the three’s not there, we’ve got some other options.”

Over the last decade, the deep ball is one of the images that has come to be associated with Duke Basketball, and there is no indication that the three will play any less of a role as the season continues to progress. But when jump shots stop falling in a rugged game on the road later in the season, as they did in the game against Villanova that ended Duke’s season last year, the Blue Devils will be able look to this victory over Boston College and remember finding other ways to win.

“We only hit one three today and still scored 79 points,” Krzyzewski said. “Last year, we wouldn’t have won a game like that—we would have had to have hit threes.”

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