Duke Blue Devils: Masterful Adjustments Net Win Over Louisville
Staring a third straight loss in the face, the Duke Blue Devils and Mike Krzyzewski took a drastic step and employed a zone defense in their victory at Louisville.
Following Tuesday night’s 90-74 loss at home to Miami, it became painfully obvious that there was a formula for beating Duke. After all, they had just suffered an 87-75 loss at North Carolina State in much the same fashion.
Both the Hurricanes and the Wolfpack gashed the Duke (15-2, 3-2) defense by spreading the floor and attacking the rim with dribble-penetration. It is the perfect antidote to the trademark extended man-to-man defensive pressure that has long been the hallmark of Krzyzewski’s program.
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Further, opponents were using high pick-and-rolls to bring Duke’s sensational freshman big man Jahlil Okafor away from the basket and turning him into a perimeter defender. As a result, the Blue Devils surrendered 177 points in the consecutive losses and appeared deflated.
Facing the possibility of their first three-game losing streak since February of 2007 and dropping a third ACC contest, the Duke coaching staff went to work on adjustments. And soon after the tip-off of today’s road battle with No. 6 Louisville (15-3, 3-2), it became clear what they had devised.
So, THAT'S what they were working on! Half court zone defense! pic.twitter.com/9nsttWyUKy
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) January 17, 2015
Duke used a 2-3 zone and the revamped strategy saved the Blue Devils from a third straight loss. The zone exploited a poor shooting Louisville team’s weakness and the Cardinals obliged by shooting 29.5 percent including an abysmal 16 percent from three-point range.
The zone also kept Okafor on the defensive interior. He defended far few perimeter pick-and-rolls and the Duke defense stayed in tact.
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The zone was only part of Coach K’s game plan. The Blue Devils fell back into the 2-3 only after their made field goals. And when they were in man-to-man it was a less extended and less aggressive version.
Typically the Blue Devils pick up their man at the halfcourt line. It is not uncommon to see Duke defenders denying passes to the wings and challenging passing lanes all the way out to halfcourt.
North Carolina State and Miami spread the floor and drove the ball into the paint and shot layups or dished to teammates for high-percentage looks. With the Duke defense over-extended, a simple ball screen made it easy for opposing guards to collapse the defense.
Against Louisville, Duke changed their pick up point to the three point line. This adjustment closed available driving lanes and forced Rick Pitino’s Cardinals into a halfcourt game and to settle for perimeter jumpers with destructive results.
Offensively, Duke and Okafor in particular had been bothered by double teams in the post. Wake Forest debuted this strategy in their narrow loss on January 7th. And when something works, it will be copied.
Today, the Blue Devils combated the double team in the post by using what is called a rip cut. Usually teams that double the post do so by sending the other big man’s defender to double. In previous games, Duke had been leaving Okafor alone to deal with the double teams.
Against Louisville, when Okafor got the ball on the block he quickly drew a double team from Amile Jefferson‘s defender. When Jefferson’s defender left to double, Jefferson ripped to the backside block. This opened up some interior passing and it discouraged Jefferson’s man from doubling. The result: Okafor gets more one-on-one chances in the post and he goes for 18 points. Jefferson added 19 points as a result of the adjustment to post doubles.
Choosing to zone a poor-shooting Louisville club does not take a genius. Lesser coaches than Krzyzewski will stumble upon the same strategy.
However, the open mindedness to depart from a recipe that has earned 998 wins shows a massive amount of courage. Adjusting to situations and personnel is the mark of a winner and Coach K has modified his playbook over the years. But he went to this most drastic departure just when his team needed it the most.
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