Duke 79, Davidson 67: It was a tale of two halves for Steph Curry. In the first half, he was very tentative with the ball and didn't hit a shot until there were nine minutes gone. Duke's defense had a heck of a lot to do with that. They switched every screen involving Curry - on the ball or off the ball. Basically, Duke wasn't going to let Curry beat them with the three. It worked, as Curry struggled in the first half getting open looks and finished the game just 1-8 from deep.
Duke used a 13-4 run towards the end of the first half to open up a close game and take a 37-24 lead into halftime. They pushed that lead out to 25 before Steph Curry brought Davidson back.
The other day I wrote an article questioning whether Steph Curry was overrated. One of the things I mentioned in that column was that Curry is such a smart basketball player, and he proved that tonight. One thing I have noticed from Steph is that he has the ability to adjust to what the defense is giving him. Against Duke, he wasn't getting looks from three because Duke was switching everything. So he started attacking the basket.
As I said, Curry didn't score until there were 11:00 left in the first half, but went for 29 points in the last 31 minutes of the game. He only hit one three, which means that the rest of his 26 points and 9 field goals came from inside the arc. He did hit a couple step backs, but for the most part all of his damage was done by getting into the lane and finishing at the rim (he even threw down a pretty nice dunk in traffic).
I know, I am talking way too much about Steph. But the reason is that Duke is such a fundamental, well-balanced team that nothing ever stands out in their wins. For example, if UNC blows a team out, you most likely are going to say "they ran the other team off the court". If UConn does, you are probably going to talk about how "they dominated the paint with blocks and dunks".
With Duke, you say "they played great team basketball"?
I guess you have too, because that is basically what it was. When it is all said and done, they did a really good job on Curry defensively without letting anyone else on the Wildcas get it going (Lovedale did have 15, 7, and 4 blocks). Duke also stopped turning the ball over. I remember they showed a stat about 12 minutes in that said Davidson had 11 turnovers and Duke had 10, but Duke only turned it over twice the rest of the game, which just happened to be the same time that they started to bust the game open.
Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer both played outstanding last night. Singler finished with 21 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists while Scheyer led Duke with 22 points.
Gonzaga 89, Tennessee 79 OT: So the 'Zags sweep the season series with Tennessee, but it didn't look like it early. After Gonzaga jumped out to a 6-0 lead, Cameron Tatum caught fire, scoring all of Tennessee's points in a 14-1 run. They eventually would push the lead to 31-16 before Mark Few made a change.
Few switched the 'Zags into a zone defense, which really just threw off Tennessee. The Vols do a lot of things well on a basketball court. They have some excellent athletes, they play tough defense (especially in the full court), they play hard, they go after loose balls. But one thing they don't do well is pass and move without the ball. Their offense is predicated on being able to isolate against your man, break him down off the dribble, and either score or find the open man. Against a zone, you lose the ability to isolate your man. So when the 'Zags went into a zone, the Vols looked lost offensively. There was almost no ball movement and no cutting.
It wasn't just the zone, however. Gonzaga finally started knocking down some jump shots. Matt Bouldin had one and Steven Gray two more as Gonzaga eventually closed the gap to 40-33 at the half.
Tennessee scored the first five of the second half, but Gonzaga pretty much controlled the game the rest of the way as they outscored Tennessee by 22. It wasn't just the play of one person either. Everyone on the court stepped up and started playing better, which brought back reminders of why I picked the 'Zags to reach the Final Four.
Three guys I want to make note of on Gonzaga. First, Jeremy Pargo finally stopped turning the ball over in the second half after turning it over five times in about the first 15 minutes. He actually played very well in the second half, as he was finding the open man and running the team. Perhaps the best thing he did was defer to Matt Bouldin, who played the best game I have ever seen him play. He finished with 26 points and 5 assists, but he made so many big shots and big plays down the stretch. Austin Daye finally woke up from his christmas hibernation. Daye, who had struggled in Gonzaga's last three games, looked to be having another sub par game in the first half with just one field goal, but he really found his stroke in the second half. Daye ended up with 20 points, 8 boards, and went 3-4 from deep. Heytvelt added 15 and 12.
For Tennessee, other than Tatum, Wayne Chism was their lone bright spot. He finished the game with 15, 19 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. Tennessee seemingly dodged a bullet as well when Tyler Smith hurt his knee in OT but eventually returned.
This win was huge for Gonzaga, because now they can claim a sweep over the second best team in the SEC (Razorbacks bandwagon - jump on it) and look to be in much better position to hold on to an at-large berth.
The rest of last night's college hoops:
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Thursday Morning Shootaround |
Posted by Rob Dauster at 8:07 AM
Labels: Davidson, Duke, Gonzaga, Morning Shootaround, Stephen Curry, Tennessee
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