With 6:33 left in the first half of Duke's 86-72 win last night against Florida State, freshman Chris Burgess stepped to the free throw line, where it has been anything but charity for him this season. Burgess took his typically deliberate pre-shot routine and, to the amazement of the Cameron faithful, swished the freebie.
Burgess' first made free throw during the Blue Devils' recent three-games-in-six-days stretch symbolically capped the Duke freshmen trio's first taste of the rigors of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball-a little bitter at first but leaving with a sweet aftertaste.
In the much-ballyhooed matchup against No. 1 North Carolina six days ago, the Blue Devils' three healthy freshmen, William Avery, Shane Battier and Burgess, combined for 2-of-10 shooting and an uncharacteristically high five turnovers.
Last night, less than a week later, the threesome shot a near-perfect 8-of-9 from the floor en route to a 26 point, 11 rebound, three block performance.
All three contributed to a 22-4 Duke run over a span of eight minutes in the first half which extended the Blue Devils' lead from three to 21 points. The frantic stretch culminated with Avery intercepting a pass from Seminoles center Karim Shabazz and finding Trajan Langdon with the outlet pass. Langdon took the feed and drew a thunderous roar from the crowd with his first dunk in recent memory.
"The energy and enthusiasm we had was terrific," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Certainly
The one freshman Krzyzewski failed to mention in that quote, Battier, may have made the biggest stride since the Carolina debacle. Sporting a goatee for the first time this season, Battier set the tone for Duke's relentless defense in the first half by rejecting FSU's Corey Louis on the Seminoles' second possession of the game. For the game, Battier recorded three blocks, took a charge and forced a five-second violation.
"What he is is very alert, he is always in a ready position," Krzyzewski said. "He is continuously ready in a sequence. Some people will play a part of the sequence and stop, Shane keeps it going. Therefore, he is able to react at times that a normal player doesn't. He's not a normal defender, he is a superb defender."
That tenacious defense which had become almost synonymous with Battier was nearly invisible in Chapel Hill. Judging by his performance the past two contests, however, Battier's defense has apparently returned. Against N.C. State Sunday, Battier had three blocked shots and a steal.
"We've learned how to respond to adversity. The Carolina game really handed us a great deal of adversity," Battier said. "Then the last two games... really tested our ability to handle adversity and come back and play good basketball."
Perhaps no player faced more adversity after the North Carolina game than Avery. The flashy point guard committed untimely turnovers, took some ill-advised shots and missed all four of his three-point attempts while hounded by his Tar Heel counterpart, Ed Cota. Against FSU, however, Avery hit all three of his shots, all four of his free throws and found the time to deal out three assists.
"Throughout the season we've been growing," Avery said. "The Carolina game certainly helped us to grow up. Now we know really what the league is like. We can't slip up. This team needs [the freshmen]. We've got to go out there and perform and give everything we have every night."
What the freshmen have learned this last week could not have been learned in any practice or camp, but only by enduring their way through the strenuous ACC schedule. Battier, perhaps echoing the thoughts of every freshman on the team, expressed his appreciation of ACC basketball after the game.
"I was talking to my roommates the other day about how fast the season's progressed," Battier said. "I remember the night like it was yesterday [when] I was a scared freshman ready to go out for Midnight Madness, ready to step onto Cameron for the first time. Here we are with five games left in the regular season. It has been a great ride, and I've thanked the Lord every night that I had come to Duke and just had a great time."
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