For its upcoming tilt against N.C. State, Duke is looking beyond the simple lessons of Aesop. Rather than resorting to the slow and steady pace of a tortoise or the fast and loose play of a hare, the Blue Devils will look to maintain consistent tempo against the Wolfpack.
No. 10 Duke is looking to avoid falling into an early hole and to maintain consistency against an N.C. State team (12-5, 0-2 in the ACC), that knocked it out of the ACC Tournament last year when the two teams square off Sunday at 1 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium. In recent games against top-five opponents Rutgers and Maryland, The Blue Devils (13-4, 2-1) fell behind early and were forced to play catch-up, a disadvantage no team wants to face.
"Sometimes our team has to really just push themselves to get out of the blocks very aggressively," head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "I would call it almost watching, taking a look around before you get into the fight, and the key is to get into the fight from the very beginning."
Once Duke has landed a few punches, McCallie will look for her team to settle into more of a rhythm, something she said it did not do in its loss at Maryland.
"Our team was engaged and attacking, but I just really feel we played too fast," McCallie said. "We had plenty of time on the offensive end to do what we wanted to do, but whether it was a quick jumper or a take to the basket, it was just a little too speedy for tempo [and] for offensive rebounding."
McCallie also said the mach-speed at which the Blue Devils have been playing has been contributing to the shooting slump of junior guard Abby Waner. In the last two contests, against Florida State and Maryland, Waner has shot just 2-of-12 and 6-of-18 from the field, respectively, including a combined 1-of-12 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Despite the cold shooting touch, McCallie said Waner had her best game of the year against Maryland because she stopped forcing shots and started crashing the boards and dishing the ball to open teammates. Waner, to her credit, is not overly worried about her shots not falling and has been putting in extra time at practice toward developing good habits to reverse her fortune.
"Shooters shoot, and my shot is always going to be there," Waner said. "Right now, it's just a mental thing for me. It's about being able to focus-slow down a little bit, gather myself and be in the right mental state."
One thing the Blue Devils are concerned about, though, is the "ridiculous" amount of free throws they have been giving their opponents. Against Maryland, Duke sent the Terrapins to the charity stripe 42 times compared to its 16, and the players and coaches could not contain their frustration in the postgame press conference. In practice this week, the Blue Devils have been focused on being disciplined and not fouling.
In addition to limiting its opponents' free throws, Duke hopes to increase the number of trips the team takes to the line by developing more of an inside-out game and penetrating to the basket to generate more fouls.
"There are a lot of pieces we have to put together," McCallie said. "This is not magical. You can't just wave a wand on this. It's too competitive."
Although many games have proven to be tight sprints to the final buzzer, the Blue Devils still have their eyes on the finish line that is months away.
"We have time," Waner said. "It's not March right now. It's dangerous when you peak early, and we are just getting better."
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