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Game Commentary
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Blue Devils unable to finish off conference opponents**
This year it looked as if Duke was finally destined to beat Wake Forest. Its old nemesis, Randolph Childress, was wearing a Portland Trailblazers uniform, so the Demon Deacons wouldn't be able to go to No. 22 for a last second three-point shot. And Wake's current star, Tim Duncan, shot a miserable 2-for-11 the last time he visited Cameron.
The first half had a Blue Devil victory written all over it. It took the Demon Deacons 15 minutes to reach double digits, and with 2:23 left in the first half, the Blue Devils held a 10-point advantage. Wake Forest head coach Dave Odom said after the game he was worried his team would never score in the first 16 minutes, as Wake shot a miserable 2-for-18. Odom admitted his team was probably poorly prepared, but he also credited Duke's smothering defense and the ruckus of the Cameron crowd for knocking his team out of its normal rhythm.
"I really thought that we had dug ourselves too big a hole," Odom said.
The player most affected by it all was Duncan. The All-American candidate shot 2-for-9 in the first stanza for only six points to go along with his five turnovers. Duke double teamed Duncan, and prevented him from getting the looks he normally would get. But even a double-digit advantage was not good enough to put Wake away. Tony Rutland scored five points in the last minute to help slice the lead to four.
"They have the best guy in the country and we had him on the ropes in the first half--we have to put it away," sophomore Ricky Price said. "Their offense was not working. We had stopped everything. We have to learn how to put them away so that they can't come back."
Price said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski told his team at halftime to maintain its tough defense. And that's exactly what it the Blue Devils failed to do. Wake battled back to tie the game at 39 with 9:16 left in the game. Duke then scored the next four points, the last two on an double-clutch slam dunk by junior Carmen Wallace off of an outlet pass from senior Chris Collins. The crowd went into hysterics, and everything was going Duke's way. The smell of an upset was in the air.
Nearly two minutes later, the Cameron crowd went a little too far in its cheering. With Duncan at the line shooting two free throws, the infamous chant of "Overrated" was aimed at Duncan, just as it had been aimed at Randolph Childress in past games. One would think the Cameron Crazies would have learned their lesson from Childress, who always came out on top when he heard that cheer. But they didn't. And Duncan went on a tear, making not only the two free throws but scoring 10 points in the final seven minutes. Nearly each time Duncan touched the ball, two points could be automatically added to Wake's score.
Krzyzewski said he didn't want to make a big deal about the crowd, even though he was heard on the sidelines screaming to the Cameron crowd to cheer for Duke, and not against another player. And junior center Greg Newton said the crowd was just being itself. But Newton also admitted when opposing crowds would yell "Cheater!" at him last year, it only motivated him to play harder.
While the Cameron crowd may have affected Duncan's game, the fact is the Blue Devils weren't playing defense. Newton credited Wake's ability to isolate its big star, leaving him alone to battle Newton one-on-one. And all alone with Duncan, Newton said he didn't exactly know how to play him.
"If you give Tim Duncan a chance to come back, he's a great player and he's going to get it done," Price said. "In the second half, that's what he did."
And what Duke didn't do was put points on the board. With 2:15 left in the game, Price nailed a three to break a 51-51 tie. Six more times, the Blue Devils would take the ball down the floor, looking to either extend or regain the lead. Six times they failed. Krzyzewski was careful to differentiate between missed shots and mistakes, saying, "This was a game that was not lost on mistakes."
But that doesn't mean it won't end up in the loss column, where Duke's two other conference games can be found. Everyone around the team vehemently admits this year is not like last year, even though they have had the same beginnings. But they can't give a reason why they can't finish games.
"I think we played better than Wake Forest," Newton said. "We missed a couple shots, they made a couple shots. That's just the way it goes.
"We have 12-point leads and all of a sudden it's tied or they're up one. We really don't know what's going on. We're still playing our butts off. I really don't have an explanation for it."
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