It’s not quite a mantra, and it’s not a code, either. But there’s something to Duke and this whole “play defense and rebound” thing, and it’s a troubling development.
That’s supposed to be primitive basketball, the sort of exhibition one might find in Morgantown, W. Va., or even Manhattan, Kan.
Coach K and the No. 1 Blue Devils are too sophisticated to simply resort to chucking the ball at the rim and going and getting it, aren’t they? After Friday’s 70-57 victory against No. 4 Purdue in a South Regional semifinal at Reliant Stadium, the answer might be a surprise.
“When we play defense and rebound, we can beat anybody,” senior Lance Thomas said.
It’s been a combination that has yielded a berth in the Elite Eight, which is farther than any of the seniors on this team have advanced. All that stands between the program’s first trip to the Final Four since 2004 is No. 3 Baylor, and the Bears will be a handful.
But this is how it is.
“It feels good to get over the hump,” junior guard Nolan Smith said. “And the way we’re doing it — with our defense and our rebounding — if we can keep doing that, we feel we can go as far as we want.”
This goes against all that is sacred.
Duke is 2,000-point scorers and three-point shooters, like senior Jon Scheyer. For the past four games, he’s been in a bit of a slump, but the Blue Devils keep winning, meaning it’s not about offense anymore.
Plus, Duke isn’t supposed to be physical. But then senior center Brian Zoubek knocks Purdue’s Chris Kramer out cold in the second half Friday, and grabs a game-high 14 rebounds, too, and the perception changes.
This is almost upsetting.
Listen to Thomas, who relished the opportunity to tangle with one of the rugged Big Ten’s best:
“That’s one of the hardest played games that we’ve ever had against an opponent. They gave us their best game. They made it hard for us to run our offense. We gutted that game out.”
Gutted that out? At Duke?
Truth is, why not win with defense and rebounding? Archaic as they may seem, those are the only elements from game to game that are always in your control, which is precisely what Bob Huggins used to remind/scold his beat writers at Kansas State, and presumably, Cincinnati.
Actually, he probably still does.
And the theme continued with Frank Martin, who considers Huggins one of his biggest coaching influences.
But it was also a “wink-wink” acknowledgement that their teams struggled in half-court offenses, always preferring to push tempo. It’s like that at Duke, too, but it used to be because the Blue Devils were more skilled, more technical than their foes.
The name on the front of the uniform used to be the giveaway.
Now? It’s harder to tell. The whole emphasis has shifted.
“From the beginning of the year, with our size now, we knew defense was going to be our strength,” Smith said. “The coaches, the players harping on it all of the time, we know in order to win, it’s our defense.
“We do a great job with it, and we take pride in it.”
There was a pause. Smith understood, recognizing the disbelief.
He continued.
“That’s this group,” Smith said. “When you get a group of guys together that want to play defense and love to defend other team’s players, you’re going to have that. Some coaches emphasize that, but if they didn’t have the players to do it, they wouldn’t be able to do it.
“We have guys that love to defend, love to get after it, and now we’re getting it done.”
Jeffrey Martin is a contributor to FOXSports.com. He also writes for the Houston Chronicle. He can be reached at reyheath@gmail.com.
