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The Nutshell by Rob Clough & Orin DayThe key to winning basketball is to make your opponent as uncomfortable as
possible in trying to do what they do best, and to find ways to get your team
into a rhythm. That's how teams with limited talent and athleticism can beat
teams with superior talent and quickness. This is exactly how it played out against Vanderbilt. The Commodores aren't that quick, had less size than Duke,
and don't have penetrators. What they do have is an array of long-range
shooters and a team that plays with a great deal of precision. Despite Duke's
dominance on the offensive boards, the Commodores overcame the Devils' early
lead by nailing open threes. They took advantage of a confused-looking defense
that should have been jamming shooters and daring VU to drive, by hitting shots
that
restored their confidence and got the crowd back into the game. The Devils
compounded their errors when out of position by fouling repeatedly. Thus, even
though Vandy shot just 38% for the game, the 'Dores went to the foul line 30 times
and
were 8-16 from the three point line.
On offense, Duke was enormously
inefficient with 24 turnovers (minus nine in the second half!) and only went to the foul line 11 times. It
didn't help that Wanisha Smith was held out with a hand injury and that Krystal Thomas left early on with a kneecap injury (Update: Krystal will be out for about four weeks) but that's no excuse for the lack of communication and intensity on the part of players who were in the game. The team must
find a way to regroup and regain the chemistry and cohesion they displayed last
year and earlier in the season.
As Vandy avenged last year's loss in Cameron (including the notorious 8 point Blue Devil trip), Duke now drops two consecutive games for the first time since the 2000 season. That's an amazing streak which should remind us all to reflect on the greatness of this program over recent years. Duke's prior consecutive losses by a double-digit margin came almost a decade ago, in December of 1997.
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Even with zero rebounds tonight, a win over Duke was a far better reason for Liz Sherwood to be smiling...this time. |
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