GREENSBORO - There are many lessons which can be learned from a doormat.
In Friday afternoon's 66-60 upset first round loss to eighth-seed, and perennial conference whipping boy, N.C. State at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, the men's basketball team displayed and exacerbated many of the trends that have been plaguing it late in the season. The Blue Devils have dropped three of their last four games as they head for the NCAA Tournament after winning 11-of-12 contests to grab the conference regular season crown.
The problems that have been facing the Blue Devils have been fairly easy to diagnose-a lack of rebounding, reduced shooting efficiency and a decrease in the number of defensive shutdowns that were bailing them out during troubled times earlier in the season. After the game, the Duke players appeared puzzled by their recent troubles.
"We've got to regain the confidence in our team that even if the shot isn't going down, we still have the ability to win," sophomore Trajan Langdon said. "I don't think that it's that we find other things to do-we just find the things that we need to do to win. We do anything we need to do to win, regardless of if the shots are going down or haven't been going down. That's what we've done in the past. We've kind of fallen out of that in the past couple of weeks."
In order to find a solution to their problems, the Blue Devils are best suited to follow the steps taken by N.C. State. First-year coach Herb Sendek's team lost its first eight ACC games, and the Wolfpack appeared headed for another year with a losing record. However, Sendek refused to let his charges get down on themselves.
"Wallowing in self-pity and blaming others wasn't going to be intelligent or productive," Sendek said. "Asking ourselves the hard questions and keep working was going to be a productive response."
Sendek managed to rally his troops for the second half of the ACC season. The Wolfpack upset nationally-ranked Wake Forest and Clemson, and won their final three regular season games to finish the season. Sendek claims no magical solutions for the Wolfpack.
"We're obviously blessed with a special group of guys who have a great deal of pride and have worked extremely hard," Sendek said. "The improvement and the fruits of their labor are being realized, but rather than it being some complicated formula or adjustment, I think it was a group of guys playing with tremendous heart."
The Blue Devils must now go about finding the solutions to their problems as they enter the NCAA Tournament. The most important problem that the team must solve is coming up for answers to cold shooting nights. Early in the season, when the shots were falling for most of the game, this wasn't an issue that had to be dealt with, as their defense could hold on until the players found their shots. Now the Duke players and coaches must find a solution to this problem.
"When we didn't hit, we became timid," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "That's crept into our game in the last few weeks. We know it. We're trying to get rid of it. But we can't right now. We haven't been able to. It's like we've looked blank when the shots weren't falling."
For much of the season, when a cold stretch came about for the Blue Devils, the solution often lay in their defense while the offense regained its form. Although strong at times, this part of the game also deserted Duke on Friday.
"The character of this team has been the defense," junior Ricky Price said. "Regardless of how we shoot, our defense should be able to stop people. If we're not shooting and not playing D, it's going to be really difficult to win. Today was a combination of both."
To improve on their subpar play, the Blue Devils need to take a play out of State's book. The Wolfpack refused to get down on themselves during the difficult times of their season and managed to bring their level of play up far enough to advance to the finals of the ACC Tournament and qualify for an NIT bid.
The Duke players and coaches realize the seriousness of their situation as they approach the end of the season. The Blue Devils too must refuse to get mired in their recent bad play and find solutions to the problems that have been troubling them of late. If they do not, they might have a longer summer break than they expected.
"I think we've got to regroup," junior guard Steve Wojciechowski said. "We're just happy that we have a chance to play some more. At the same time, we've got to really turn it up. March isn't a time for teams not to be playing their best. We're really going to go after it full force.
"We just don't have that same look in our eyes. I don't know what that's attributed to, but it's not there. We've got to find it fast."
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