Mike Krzyzewski managed to tell the whole story of last night's 83-85 loss to North Carolina in just about 10 minutes in Cameron Indoor Stadium's press room.
The Blue Devils missed shots, 44 of them to be exact. Duke failed to connect on 14 free throws, including four front ends of one-and-one opportunities.
But according to Krzyzewski, and arguably to most people who watched last night's contest between the two teams whose relationship defines the word "rivalry," his team still looked strong.
"I thought that we played really well," said Krzyzewski, unapologetic to everyone save the fans whose support he praised in his first post-game comments. "We didn't shoot the ball well, especially from the foul line, which has been a huge thing for us. We've been an 80 percent free-throw shooting team."
On paper, Krzyzewski's claim is difficult to substantiate. However, the Blue Devils did find ways to get open shots around Carolina's tough zone defense. As Brendan Haywood rendered Carlos Boozer useless in the post, Duke still got the ball in the hands of its shooters-Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy and Jason Williams. For the most part, Duke's passes were crisp and on-target, and good looks at the hoop were plenty.
In the first half alone, the Blue Devils shot 39 times. Only a third of those shots found the bottom of the net, though. Three-pointers sailed
Frustration hung in the air with every shot that rattled in, then bounded out of the Blue Devils' basket.
The Carolina defense was strong, Krzyzewski noted, particularly Haywood's handling of Boozer. But the Tar Heel defense could not touch the Blue Devils on the foul line.
"When we get to the line, there is no defense," Krzyzewski said. "We need to hit those things."
Over and over, Duke foul shooters like Dunleavy, Williams and Battier-all of whom regularly make over 70 percent of their free throws-missed. The Blue Devils' best free-throw shooter, Nate James, who last weekend used two foul shots to lift Duke to overtime with Maryland, missed two second-half free throws with the score locked at 55-55.
"Tonight the lid was on the basket," Battier said.
By contrast, Haywood is generally the type of free-throw shooter about whom even Tar Heel fans groan at the end of a tight game. The 48.6-percent free-throw shooter swished four foul shots in the final three minutes of last night's game, though. It was either irony or poetic justice, depending on your preference of blues.
Meanwhile, Duke's shooting difficulties led to defensive breakdowns, especially in the first half.
"Our offense affected our defense," Krzyzewski said. "We didn't see the ball go in on some open shots. You've got to be very mentally tough to go on to the next play."
Further, the patented, dangerous Duke run exhibited so famously against Maryland last weekend never happened last night. The Blue Devils could not put together a string of consistently made field goals, and North Carolina got contributions from all over its lineup.
For example, Williams hit a jumper with about 10 minutes remaining in the game to give Duke a 57-55 lead. Forte missed a trey on the other end of the floor, and Williams had an open look from beyond the arc on the next play. He missed, and Forte made an open jumper to tie the game and steal Duke's momentum.
"We had a couple of shots that would have started one of those runs," Battier said. "They just didn't go in."
Despite their struggles, the Blue Devils still found themselves with a chance to win with 1.2 seconds left. Moments earlier, Dunleavy's three-pointer threatened to erase from memory all of the earlier missed buckets.
But Haywood knocked down his free throws, and Chris Duhon barely missed from half court at the buzzer that would have given the Blue Devils the win.
It may look bad on paper, but one needs look no further than the final score to realize that Krzyzewski is right. Last night, Duke lost playing well.
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