After a "disappointing" 97-66 thrashing of Duquesne in the first round of the Duke Classic Saturday, ninth-year Blue Devils coach Gail Goestenkors shared her vision of Duke's defense.
"I want [the opponent] to be afraid, I want them to be intimidated, I want them to worry about whether they are going to be trapped," Goestenkors said.
It took about 22 hours for that vision to play itself out in front of more than 3,200 fans in attendance at yesterday's 71-41 championship victory over visiting Toledo (2-1). Duke (7-0) came out pressing, trapping, scrapping and doing everything else it could to fluster the Rockets, who committed an outlandish 18 turnovers in the first half.
"I think the way we jumped out at them kind of put them back on their heels a little bit," Goestenkors said. "I think it's very difficult, especially in the first five minutes of the game, for a team to adjust to the type of pressure that they see and the athleticism."
The type of defense that Duke now plays is a trap-heavy, swarming attack that Goestenkors envisioned when she first came to Durham nearly a decade ago. But back then, Goestenkors inherited a squad on which the leading returning stealer from 1992 maxed out at 37 steals. By comparison, freshman Alana Beard already has 29 steals to her credit seven games into her career.
Still, the
Gradually, she learned to fit her system to her players rather than the other way around.
"When I first came here, we pressed full court because I was a rookie coach and I didn't understand that we didn't have the personnel to do that, and we lost a lot of games," Goestenkors said. "I finally figured out that I needed to adjust more to my personnel."
Eight seasons later, following two straight sensational recruiting classes, the personnel on Goestenkors' roster boasts more athleticism and quickness than the coach has ever enjoyed at Duke. And it was more than clear yesterday.
The Blue Devils were seemingly everywhere on defense against Toledo, holding the Rockets to 16.7 percent from the floor in a first half in which they scored only 13 points. In that half, the Rockets connected on only four shots, all of which Duke forced them to take from difficult distances. Three of Toledo's field goals were from behind the arc, while the lone two-pointer came courtesy of a bomb two minutes into the game by Rockets guard Courtney Risinger, who had her foot on the three-point line.
It was an effort
"It's just more exciting to be able to trap and get steals," senior captain and Duke Classic MVP Georgia Schweitzer said. "The fun part of basketball is getting a steal and starting a fast break and stuff like that. It's just exciting to play that way, to get in someone's face on defense."
The prime culprits on the defensive end, as usual, were freshman starters Beard and Iciss Tillis. Through seven games, the athletic tandem has pushed the Blue Devils over the top in their ability, for the first time in two seasons, to successfully sustain a full-court press. Beard and Tillis each collected five of the team's 18 steals yesterday as they initiated fast break after fast break for Duke.
The Blue Devils outscored Toledo 20-0 on fast-break points, many of which were finished off with a left-handed layup by Beard.
"I thought our defense was excellent. I thought we put great pressure on the ball; we were trapping, [Toledo] likes to set screens the ball and we were trapping that," Goestenkors said. "I thought we caused them a lot of problems. I thought [the first half] was one of the best halves, defensively, that we've had all year."
If Goestenkors' vision holds up, there will be many encore performances to follow.
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