Silence.
That was the sound in the Dean Dome Sunday afternoon after Lee Melchionni nailed his fifth three-pointer, giving the Blue Devils a nine-point lead over the nation’s most talented team.
What transpired in the next three minutes—Duke’s devastating downfall to let North Carolina finish on an 11-0 run—has been well documented. Still, the Blue Devils proved something in that loss, both to themselves and to any doubters: Duke can play with anybody in the country.
Considering the team has been plagued by injuries and a short bench all season, Duke’s 22-5 record, which includes an 11-5 ACC mark against the hardest conference schedule in the league, has exceeded many expectations. Although North Carolina and Wake Forest may have been penciled in as No. 1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament, this weekend Duke is primed to perfect its roster and steal a spot of its own.
The third-seeded Blue Devils will embark on their quest for a sixth ACC Tournament title in seven years Friday night, when No. 5 Duke takes on the winner of today’s Miami-Virginia game at 9:30 p.m.
The Blue Devils’ “big three” of J.J. Redick, Daniel Ewing and Shelden Williams all average more than 33 minutes per contest. Redick has played eight complete games, and he has averaged 38.3 minutes in the conference slate, sitting out just 32 minutes in those 16 games.
“We’re concerned,” Krzyzewski said. “Going into the tournament we’ll have to watch our practices so we don’t go in tired—so we go in real fresh.”
All season long the Blue Devils have had to adjust the length and intensity of their workouts to accommodate for their depleted roster, which includes just nine recruited scholarship players who have combined to miss 26 games this year.
Duke will travel to Washington, D.C., this afternoon but, because of the expanded tournament, will not hold a shoot-around in the MCI Center before Friday’s tip-off, which Krzyzewski said concerns him. To make matters worse, Duke’s contest will follow closely after the N.C. State-Florida State game, limiting warmup time.
“We have a good feel for what our kids can handle and what we can get across in a two-day or one-day period, depending on how much preparation time you have,” Krzyzewski said. “Instead of changing defenses, it will be more about tempo or something within our defense that we will try to take advantage of.”
The Blue Devils will start the same lineup Friday that they did against UNC in an effort to get junior Shavlik Randolph more involved in the game. The forward has been hampered by foul trouble ever since returning from mononucleosis Jan. 16. Krzyzewski also said he hopes to integrate into the rotation David McClure, who is finally nearing 100 percent health after missing seven games with a knee injury earlier this season.
“We are trying to get in good condition, review all of our offensive sets and take areas of weakness and try to make them strengths,” Krzyzewski said. “More so we are preparing ourselves, not for a specific opponent but just trying to be a better basketball team.”
Heading into ACCs, Duke’s defense is its biggest strength. In the three games before the Blue Devils fell to UNC, their opponents failed to break 60 points. Duke had the best defense in the ACC this season, holding teams to just 65.8 points per game.
Wake Forest, who Duke would likely face in Saturday’s semifinal, is the only team that has shot better than 50 percent from the field against the Blue Devils all year.
“We always take pride in our defense,” Redick said. “The last two years that’s kind of been the staple of our team.”
Part of the key to Duke’s defense is its ability to guard opponents’ three-point shooters. The Blue Devils have given up 67 less makes from beyond the arc than N.C. State, the team that has allowed the second fewest three-pointers.
“I hate open looks. A breakdown for us is when a kid gets an open look, not when he hits a three,” Krzyzewski said. “Guys are very comfortable that if they did get beat, it’s not just Shelden but Shav can be there to help out. So that’s been a big part of our defense.”
Duke’s interior defense is nearly as good because Williams, whom Krzyzewski described as the “best shot blocker I’ve coached,” has become such a threat down low. He currently ranks third in the nation in blocked shots, and with Randolph, the duo is a formidable defensive combination.
With NCAA Tournament seedings up for grabs this weekend, the Blue Devils are aware that they can make a case for a No. 1 seed with a strong showing.
“If we advance to Sunday, we’ll have a chance to be an unbelievably high seed because we’ve beaten more top-10 teams than anybody and we have as tough a schedule as anybody,” Krzyzewski said.
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