Even though Duke was coming off of a curious loss to Temple (but not "really" curious, if you ask Mike Krzyzewski), the expectation was that they'd make a statement with a rebound-win in Atlanta to open up ACC play. Duke, after all, is supposed to be one of the nation's elite teams and unranked Georgia Tech isn't even an elite team in its conference. This is a Tech squad that ended pre-conference play with losses to Mercer and Fordham – you know, powerhouses.
But with about 30 seconds left, there goes Glen Rice Jr. hitting his fourth three-pointer of the game to pull the Yellow Jackets within two, 75-73. Duke escaped, though. Kelly Ryan – 14-14 from the line on the day – hit six late free throws to keep Tech at bay and Duke managed to open up conference play 1-0.
"Welcome to the ACC," said Krzyzewski.
The takeaway? Tech might not be as bad as its record and embarrassing losses and Duke might not be as good as everyone thinks – yet.
"We're evolving. We're in constant search of who we are individually," said Krzyzewski. "We're still all developing. We don't have a (John) Scheyer, a Nolan Smith a (Kyle) Singler. They already knew who they were. And so you had that (experience) in the locker room, on the court, all the time. This team doesn't have that. It's evolving. I thought today we really showed some toughness. To win a game down the stretch like that is really important for the development of our kids."
Throughout Krzyzewski's postgame press conference, he kept noting his team's youth. Quinn Cook and Austin Rivers are both freshmen. Tyler Thorton and Josh Hairston, who log significant minutes, are sophomores. Like Krzyzewski says, the Blue Devils are evolving.
Rivers played an uneven game. He shot just 3-10 and had three turnovers. For all of his precocious talent, his shot selection and decision-making were that of a freshman; but he managed to make one of the biggest plays of the game. Tech had pulled to within two, 68-68 with a little less than four minutes left. Within the next 90 seconds, Rivers missed two free throws and a jumper, but at just under the two minute mark, he stole a cross-court pass from Mfon Udofia and zipped down the court for a tough, contested layup.
"He's still a freshman," said Krzyzewski. "For him to make that play after not really having a good game, he showed some toughness. That (steal) was a huge play."
Duke's close win over Tech and it's loss to Temple have revealed some team flaws. They've been outrebounded in both games and, of special concern for Krzyzewski, is his squad's inability to keep their opponents off the offensive glass. Temple had 13 offensive rebounds, Tech had 12. It hurts.
And, just like in the loss to Temple, Duke had to contend with a bigger, more athletic perimeter. Cook, Seth Curry and Rivers (playing out of position as the small forward in Duke's three-guard alignment) are all undersized. Tech took advantage. For stretches, Udofia – who had 19 points and four assists -- had his way with Cook. Krzyzewski, who said he watched about six Tech games this season, said it was the best game he'd seen him play. Jason Morris pogo'd around the court all afternoon. His alley-oop dunk in the first half and the maniacal putback dunk in the second half both capped off Tech runs. And then there was Glen Rice, who played the best game of his career with 28 points and 8 rebounds. His form might not be as pretty as his daddy's (former NBA All Star Glen Rice), but he was just as lethal. Duke couldn't stop him. He made several hanging, double-pumping floaters in the paint that were shoulder shruggers; as in: "Hey, what are you gonna do?"
When Krzyzewski passed him in the hallway he nudged him on the shoulder and told him he played a heck of a game.
"Once Rice got going, I thought Tech got going," said Krzyzewski. "He's a high level player, a high level athlete. He made some shots where I thought we had good defense on. Once he got going he was really good."
Tech coach Brian Gregory isn't expecting Rice to replicate this performance every game, but a lot is being expected of the junior forward.
"We're asking (Rice) to do something so different than he's ever had to do and be dependable in doing that," said Gregory. "He just can't score. He needs to rebound for us, he needs to create shots for other people. So, in the past, where it was, ‘OK, Glen, we need you to make a couple threes tonight,' his role now is completely different."
If Rice, Udofia and crew can even come close to this kind of play for the rest of the conference season, they could be dangerous.
"We want to be playing our best basketball at the end of February and beginning of March and we have 16 games to start doing that," said Gregory. "
Meanwhile, Duke – one of a handful of teams that entered the season with realistic hopes of playing in New Orleans this spring at the Final Four – has some "evolving" to do. Krzyzewski remains optimistic, but realistic.
"I don't want to put a cap on who are or who we might be. I'm just trying to coach our guys to get better every game," said Krzyzewski. "You know, with a veteran team, you set certain goals on where you want to be. It's the old thing, ‘Coach, where do you want to be?' Well you'd want to be 15-0 and have five seniors starting – all lottery picks. With this team, we're just trying to see how they progress and for them to be 13-2 and 1-0 is really good, right now."
