Friday night, the Bulldog became the Convict and the Court General all in the matter of just one half.
Junior guard Steve Wojciechowski, much-maligned by Blue Devil fans during the first two years of his Duke career-mostly for not being Bobby Hurley-hustled, scrapped and wrestled his way into the hearts of those very same fans by setting the tone early and leading Duke to a 29-point win over Vanderbilt Friday night. He notched eight steals on the night to go along with six assists, five rebounds and 12 points.
"Wojciechowski had a great basketball game," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "When we win a game like this, you hate to just single out one guy, but in this case, I think it is deserved.
"He put amazing pressure on the ball, he made huge plays-gutsy plays in the first half. There are a lot of cliches about putting your heart on the floor and you can use them all, and all of the sudden, they equal Wojo tonight. He was terrific."
The Convict: Wojciechowski dictated the defensive tone from the opening tip-off, twice swiping the ball in the first minute of play and finishing the first half with seven steals.
His intense defensive pressure managed to severely rattle Vanderbilt freshman point guard Atiba Prater, who was victimized by Wojciechowski's blanket coverage and constant pestering from one end of the court to the other.
"Steve came out and set the tone with two steals in the first minute and eight steals in the game," sophomore guard Trajan Langdon said. "We wanted to come and set a defensive tone and that's exactly what he did."
Wojciechowski came up with the plethora of thefts through a variety of methods, ranging from causing the Commodore guards to dribble off their own legs to swiftly doubling-down on unsuspecting post players. Several of the steals resulted from loose balls initiated and won by Wojciechowski.
"I'd put my money on Steve to get that ball any time," freshman forward Chris Carrawell said. "He goes hard, 100 percent, he never gets tired, you just feel comfortable with him, like you've got a chance to win."
At one point late in the half, Wojciechowski ended up on the floor wrestling for a loose ball with Vanderbilt's James Strong. The referees blew the whistle, signaling for a jump-ball, but both parties continued to fight for the ball. Despite being obviously outsized, Wojciechowski emerged from the scrum victorious and held the ball over his head in triumph, embodying the attitude he wants for the entire team.
"I think in order for us to be a really good team, we need to be fighters, we need to be blue collar players," Wojciechowski said. "Every time we step on the court, we need to work harder than the other team to win."
The Court General: On a team with so many equally-talented players, a leader was one visible piece of the puzzle the Blue Devils seemed to be missing, until Friday night, that is.
"Steve... he's our leader," Carrawell said. "Everybody on the team knows that and tonight he showed what a great leader he is."
Wojciechowski not only took control on the defensive end, but demonstrated flashes of offensive brilliance that many Duke fans have long been waiting for. After a transition layup off of one of his own steals started Wojciechowski off on the right foot, he buried a three-pointer less than four minutes into the action. Throughout the rest of the half, he continued to catch the Commodore defense off guard by driving the lane, an aspect of his game that Wojciechowski had not utilized much before Friday night. Wojciechowski's new-found offensive punch was best exemplified late in the half. With the shot clock winding down, Wojciechowski turned the corner on his defender and took the ball straight to the hoop for two, instead of deferring to a teammate as in games past.
For the majority of the game, Wojciechowski directed the Blue Devil offense as always, opening up numerous opportunities for everyone, especially forward Roshown McLeod-who benefited both from Wojciechowski's precise passes and contagious excitement.
"His intensity is great," McLeod said. "I basically fed off of him. He's got so much intensity, he's got enough to go around for the team. He does that in practice and he does that every time out on the floor. He gives us 100 percent every night."
Despite Wojciechowski's scoring outburst, it was his tough defense and flawless passing that made Friday's game among his best in a Blue Devil uniform.
"I love Wojo, he doesn't need to make baskets to win and that's a pretty good basketball player," Pete Gaudet, former Duke and present Vanderbilt assistant coach, said.
The second half did bring one down note for Wojciechowski-his first turnover of the season. The traveling violation was actually Wojciechowski's first gaffe in eight halves of competition against outside competition. That stinginess with the ball is something in which Wojciechowski takes a great deal of pride.
"The ball slipped out of my hand, and I wanted to jump in the air and call time for a second so I wouldn't get my turnover," Wojciechowski said. "But obviously, I'm not going to stay in the air too long-I pretty much figured that out when I was younger. A turnover's a turnover and we won, so that's what mattered."
After Friday's night's breakthrough performance and new labels, Wojciechowski has assumed increased favor among all the Cameron faithful. But he will still belong to the group in the student section that showers opposing guards with barking sounds each time Wojciechowski hounds the ball, in honor of his bulldog-tough style of defense.
"I just started to realize it, and it's great," Wojciechowski said of the barking cheers. "The fans were great, especially this early in the season. It's just an unbelievable feeling playing in Cameron and it gets better every time you step out onto the floor."
Stirring words from Cameron's new favorite son.
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