LAHAINA, Maui - The men's basketball team has developed a national reputation for its depth, and in Monday's opening-round game of the Maui Invitational, that depth got put to the test.
The problem: sophomores Chris Carrawell and Nate James were forced to sit out the Blue Devils' game against Chaminade with injuries from Thursday night's home opener against Davidson.
The solution: a lineup that dwarfed the Silverswords and gave junior Taymon Domzalski and freshman Chris Burgess smore playing time than they had in Duke's previous two outings.
Carrawell was the Blue Devils' first man off the bench in their first two games. His scrappy defense and potent mid-range jump shot had been crucial cogs in Duke's system. But a strained back suffered blocking a shot against Davidson was worsened by the 12-hour flight to Maui. Not even the warm Hawaiian air could cure him for Monday's game.
James sprained his left ankle before the Davidson game and has yet to recover. His intensity on defense and ability to get up and down the court jump-started Duke's transition game in its first two contests.
With two of the Blue Devils' most versatile players out, coach Mike Krzyzewski did some adjusting of his own, going to a substitution pattern that turned Duke from a quick team into a towering team.
"With the two kids that we have out, it changes how we would sub in a ball game," Krzyzewski said. "We become bigger and a little less athletic. We've been practicing more athletic than big, so this was an adjustment. It's not the best situation to have your team in, especially with a lot of young kids."
But adjust they did. Elton Brand continued to dominate in the middle, pouring in 23 points in 24 minutes and adding seven boards. Most impressively, he drew nine trips to the free throw line and connected on 11 of 16 attempts.
Domzalski and Burgess, however, saw the biggest changes due to Carrawell's and James' absence. The two earned considerable time together and played alongside fellow big men Brand and Roshown McLeod.
"We don't play with two or three big guys in the lineup," Krzyzewski said. "It's not how we practice. It changes how we run motion, so it's a big adjustment."
Domzalski looked inconsistent upon entering the game as he hauled down an offensive rebound but sent the open putback clanging off the backboard. He made up for it less than a minute later, however, as he followed up a William Avery missed layup in transition by slamming home the putback with authority. Domzalski finished with just four points, but he hauled down nine rebounds and collected two blocks in 15 minutes of play.
Burgess notched six points and seven rebounds and hit his first three-pointer of the season. He also set up Todd Singleton for a late basket with a surprising behind-the-back pass in the lane.
McLeod also benefited from playing alongside his taller teammates, scoring 14 points and grabbing six boards.
All in all, the Blue Devils responded well to their first adversity of the season.
"With those two guys gone, it changed what we wanted to do," senior Steve Wojciechowski said. "I thought we did a good job getting ready to play, and it was a good way to start the tourney."
Duke will test its taller rotation against a team with some size of its own when it faces Missouri in today's semifinals. If the Blue Devils want to earn a finals matchup with Kentucky or Arizona, they'll have to keep improving.
"Any time you're going to play higher competition, you just have to raise your level," Wojciechowski said. "It's not any one thing; offensively, defensively, we just have to keep getting better."
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