If the ACC had an award for its best assistant coach, Duke's big man coach Steve Wojciechowski would be making quite a case for himself this season. This compliment comes at a curious time, because though awards for the Duke program are nothing new, before this season Wojciechowski's handling of the Blue Devil post-players has been marred by more criticism than praise.
The fact that Wojciehowski is in charge of the post-players is a perplexing fact in and of itself. Wojciehowski was a fiery, defensive-minded 5-foot-10 guard in his days as Krzyzewski's court general. The Maryland native's greatest strength was arguably 50 feet away from the hoop, as it was Wojciechowski's ability to pressure ball handlers at nearly any point on the court earned him national defensive player of the year honors in 1999, not his shot blocking or rebounding skills.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski's defense of his decision to place Wojciehowski in charge of the post players seemed suspect, as well. Coach K made strained arguments, saying that Wojciehowski would be able to teach post players how to catch passes better because the assistant was excellent at passing the ball into the post in his playing days. While there's no denying Wojo was a good passer, there is also little evidence that Division I players still need to learn how to catch. Making this logic even more flawed, Casey Sanders, a senior center on last year's Duke squad, may have had the worst hands in all of college basketball, developing little in his four years under Wojciehowski.
While it is true that Wojo had coached Carlos Boozer, who was first-team All-ACC in 2002 and is averaging a double-double for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, post-play has been the least impressive aspect of the Duke teams since Wojo became an assistant for the 1999-2000 season. Even with Boozer, Indiana's Jarred Jefferies dominated Duke's interior, nearly single-handily knocking the No. 1 Blue Devils out of the NCAA tournament three rounds before the national title game in 2002.
Maryland's recent success against the Blue Devils can also be attributed almost solely to its interior play, because as good as Juan Dixon, Drew Nicholas and Steve Blake have been in the recent past, Duke's plethora of guards have at least equaled the Terrapins play, if not exceeded.
Things had the potential to change with the recruitment of high school All-Americans Shavlik Randolph and Shelden Williams for the present Blue Devil team. But last year the inside continued to linger in the shadow of the guards. Williams and Randolph were both freshmen, however, and both showed signs of brilliance. Adding to the circumstances was Randolph's hidden hip injury, an ailment that went undiscovered through his senior year of high school and his freshman year at Duke.
And at the beginning of this season, things still had not changed. The heavily-favored Blue Devils lost the Great Alaskan Shootout to Purdue largely because of the Boilermakers' superior toughness on the low-block. While it is a fact that the Duke guards also had a wretched shooting night--J.J. Redick, Daniel Ewing and Chris Duhon shot a combined 11-for-28--the Duke big men did little to counter for the off-day.
Making Wojciechowski's performance look even poorer, Michael Thompson--a post-player who was a long-term project for the Blue Devils--transferred after the Alaska tournament largely because he was frustrated with his lack of development and playing time.
But just as things hit rock bottom, Randolph and Williams finally have shown the extent of Wojciechowski's hard work. Starting with Duke's Dec. 3 matchup with then-No. 5 Michigan State, the two have worked together to take control of the paint for the Blue Devils. Williams and Randolph shot a combined 12-for-15 from the field against the Spartans and grabbed 15 rebounds.
Williams and Randolph's performance has been more or less consistent with its Michigan State performance throughout the season, with the 13-foot-7 duo stepping up in big games, with Randolph and Williams combining for 9-for-14 shooting and 18 rebounds in Duke's surprisingly easy 89-61 win over then-No. 10 Texas.
Krzyzewski has been especially impressed with Wojciechowski's ability to coach Willams and Randolph into playing as a tandem, rather than as independent big men rivaling each other for touches in the post.
"They're both good kids who are not threatened by each other,' Krzyzewski said. "They want each other to do well. They can see that one is not taking anything away from the other, but rather is enhancing the other's abilities. When playing against one another in practice when they're doing individual drills, Shav gets to play against a very powerful player who is becoming more skilled and Shelden gets to play against a very skilled player who is becoming more powerful. In that combination they make each other better."
The new found success in the post has made things easier for Duke's vaunted perimeter attack, as well.
"If we can establish our inside guys early in the game, teams will start doubling down and they can kick it out to us for some easy threes," the sharp-shooting Ewing said.
If the Blue Devils play their way into the Final Four this season--the trip would be only the third semi-final appearance for Duke since 1995--Randolph and Williams must continue to develop under the tutelage of Wojciehowski to replace the weakness of recent Blue Devil teams with an intimidating strength.
Robert Samuel is a Trinity junior. He is the sports department's managing editor, and he's column appers weekly.
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