Georgetown @ Duke

Georgetown was up 27-25 with 6:03 left in the first half when Greg Monroe was whistled for his second foul. As you might figure, he was forced to the bench. Without Monroe on the court, Duke went on a 15-2 run to close the half. The run was caused by Duke's defensive pressure. Earlier in the half, when Duke's defense would get all over Georgetown on the perimeter, the Hoyas would use Monroe as a pressure release. What that means is that they would flash him up into the high post/top of the key area, give him the ball, and let the offense run through him.

Without Monroe on the floor, the Georgetown offense went to pieces. They stopped moving the ball around and their guards started to really get bothered by the Duke pressure, so the Hoyas started playing faster, which is exactly what Duke wanted them to do. The faster pace forced missed shots and turnovers, and Duke was able to capitalize.

Georgetown was able to cut the lead to 46-42 early in the second half, but Monroe picked up his fourth foul on a technical with 15 minutes left and had to sit down. Duke immediately responded with a 15-3 run that all but ended the Hoya's chances.

In the first half, it was all about Gerald Henderson. The junior continued his great play as he finished the half with 17 points on 7-8 shooting, including a thunderous dunk on an out of bounds play (got to the 1:30 mark).



Now, this really bothers me. I've seen Henderson catch an oop on this play at least once already this year, and when I saw them start the play, I knew exactly what was coming. How does Georgetown not know this play? It is so simple. The Devils line up four across at the foul line, with a big at each elbow and Henderson on the far side. The bigs make an X-cut, crossing each other while they each cut to the opposite box. This cut forces the middle man of the Georgetown zone (they go 2-3 when the ball is under the basket) to play back, opening up the space in the lane for the lob.

Back to Henderson's performance, the most impressive part about it for me was that most everything was coming off of jump shots. Three's, pull-ups, mid-range, you name it. Henderson's rep is as an athlete, but if he can knock down perimeter jumpers and force defenders to come out and guard him, he is quick enough that he will be able to penetrate all day.

DaJuan Summers has the look of an NBA player to me. He is big, strong, and athletic, but he is a perimeter player with the range of a two-guard. Yesterday, he had 21 points, 7 boards, and 4 steals. He probably needs to improve his perimeter skills a bit (handle isn't great) but he definitely has the physical tools to make it.

Chris Wright doesn't, and in fact he struggled so mightily against Duke that he was benched in the second half.

Kyle Singler finished with 15 and 16 boards, including some big o-boards in the second half that helped Duke build their big lead. Henderson finished up with 23, while Scheyer and Paulus had 11 and 10 respectively.

One quick note about Paulus - he gets hated on more than any other player in the sport, but he really is a heck of a basketball player. Yesterday, he knocked down some big three's and really set the tone for Duke defensively. He is as intense as anyone out there, and he really is a great leader for this team.