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4 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2008 SMKAMNG UK ROOK BY JESSE BAUMGARTNER SENIOR WRITER DURHAM lt seems unnat ural, as if the basketball court is somehow off-balance. The open space in the middle of No. 2 Duke's offense begs for something to occupy it, remain ing almost untouched as the Blue Devils camp on the 3-point arc. But, in a nutshell, that space is what defines the lethal Duke scor ing machine this year. L | Bra I COURTESY OF MICHAEL CHANG/THE CHRONICLE ' READY TO RUMBLE VS. THE LOWDOWN ON TONIGHTS GAME No. 2 Duke vs. s"' ■MMi No - Carolina ( q £ Smith Center 9 p.m. Broadcast Raycom/LF/ESPN —* (19-1,7-0 ACC) Radio: 1360 WCHL (21 -1,6-1 ACC) HEAD-TO-HEAD Even if UNC’sTy Lawson is able to play in spite of his ankle sprain, he Point guard won't be at 100 percent Although he 1,1 ill played well at Florida State Quentin ■R|| Thomas hasn't proven he can handle H the kind of pressure he'll face from K. Duke's Greg Paulus. 1 Edge: Greg Pautus HVh Eifangtonhascomeintohisownasa I Chnntinn scorer this season and continues to anooung impress with his jumpers off it* drib- j guard We. Henderson can leap with the best JESAJM and possesses a fine pull-up jumper, | „ | but if EWngton gets hot early hei own mHHV | the bragging rights this time around. | HfegdflF Edge: Wayne EHmgton The transformation of DeMarcus smll Nelson has been one of the biggest “fjllgL . , reasons for Duke's 19-1 start. Marcus l-fL forward Ginyard can match Nelson’s defen shie prowess but falls short of the §LZSHHH| Blue Devil’s 1 5.3 points per game HHIHHHk This matchup figures to be one of the I > most interesting of the game. On one /[ ower side is Deon Thompson, who lives in W forward the paint; on the other is perimeter- Hf aBL" oriented Kyte Smgler It will take a ** ' £ JjjL man's effort to slow down Singlet on the wing. Edge: Kyis Stagier The Blue Dmfis' biggest weakness is defending the low post because of how j mMbMk Center many perimeter players they use. And | the best post player in the country Sophomore forward Lance Thomas should be in for a long day V* JH Edge:Tyler Kanshreugh Learning from a subpar offensive sea- ■Sjjjjjjjjjjr"'"'' smlastyaacKfzyzewddhasutizeda I Coaching guardheavy fast-paced system to turn B things around Duke hasn’t hftiMny j road blocks and seems to be buymg into the system more eadi game. A ||l Lae U* **•—-''* VSK Mar Cord. K Danny Green and ton Sdwyer are two of foe best sixth men in the country and Green _ ~ Bench append to get back on trade Sumfoy Vm&mVK ft e a. ■— • hnrt I ***** flenhnrr n Aiviuuyri nsu} njvsry nuns UWv, MEpnewfi is a luxury few coaches enfoy Edge: DRAW Without Lawson, the Tar Htek' odds at intangibles things lend to happen in this rivalry And ( Q /n K no one has forgotten what happened last V s % time Dube came to town. EdgetUNC The Bottom Line-—Duke 86, North Caroira 81 COMHUD BY JBSJ BAUMGAWNES AMD MMD E After they struggled to find the hoop last year without a true post player down low, coach Mike Krzyzewski has let his team loose on the fast break and built his half-court offense around versa tile ball-handlers, shooters and the ever-important perimeter spacing leading to the nations third-best scoring average at 85.7 points per game heading into today’s throwdown with No. 3 North Carolina. The observant basketball fan will notice a touch of NBA style in the scheme, not surprising given that Krzyzewski has taken some of the Phoenix Suns' elements from his good friend —and offensive mastermind Mike DAntoni, who coached the USA Basketball team with Coach K this summer. “I think our offense is growing," • - gUgfe krzv/ewski HL UNC vs. Duke not exactly like the Phoenix Suns’, but there are elements of it, espe cially the fact that we don’t post as much. That’s probably the big gest similarity, is they don't post Amare (Stoudemire) and we don’t have Amare." But while Duke lacks a Stoudemire, the team does spread the floor in a similar manner using guard-heavy lineups. Off turnovers and rebounds, the smaller Blue Devils race down the court and often run players toward the corners rather than the basket to space out the floor. And when Duke starts its half court game, the team often puts four, and sometimes all five, play ers around the perimeter. "I think the biggest thing was getting comfortable with it," said point guard Greg Paulus, who mentioned Jason Kidd as some one he watched to understand the concepts better. “But we watched a lot of film on ourselves and on coach’s USA team and the Suns. 1 think that has really helped us with our spacing and creating the type of shots early in the offense that we’ve gotten all year." By spreading out the defense so much, Duke gives itself lots of room to maneuver, screen and create openings particularly For instance, Paulus can get a high ball pick for his own long the screener, who pops to the perimeter. Most dribble drives TROUBLE AT THE POINT SENIOR THOMAS MIGHT HAVE TO FILL IN FOR AILING LAWSON BY DAVID ELY SPORTS EDITOR When North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson crashed to the floor Sunday at Florida State and clutched his left ankle in agony, the Tar Heels’ team complexion took a 180-degree turn. And the lingering uncertainty surrounding the sophomore's status for tonight's prime-time battle against Duke doesn't help the situation. “1 saw (Lawson) this morning," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said at his week ly news conference Thesday. “He walked into the trainer s room on crutches, and 1 think it’s awfully difficult to go from crutches one day to playing against Duke the next day." Hie entire hullabaloo surrounding Lawson and his now infamous left appendage shows just how important he is to the Tar Heels' suc cess. Whether UNC has the depth and bal ance at the point required for a deep run come March —with or without a healthy Lawson is now a key issue. Currently North Carolina is No. 16 in the nation in assists, dishing out 17.5 assists per game. Heading that effort is Lawson at 5.7 dimes a game good for No. 30 in the nation —but after that things get murky. Quentin Thomas, Danny Green, Wayne Ellington and Marcus Ginyard all average about two assists an outing, but the Tar Heels have yet to establish a go-to creator after Lawson. Tonight, with Lawson’s ankle still a question mark, Thomas and the rest of the Tar Heels will get the opportunity to prove on a national stage that UNCs game is more than a one-man passing show. A disastrous outing at Clemson saw Thomas turn the ball . over three times in eight minutes and created . doubts about his abil- A ity to back up Lawson m in the wake of Bobby ■ Frasor's season-end- ■ ing ACL tear. But three-and-a- 1 half years at UNC have taught the senior not to fret about the past and just to relax and enjoy the future. “1 took my learning experiences and just put 'em basically all in ajar and said, *You know what, there's nothing that I haven’t seen or gone A through in the past —so I’ve gone 1 through everything,” Thomas said. 1 “So just enjoy your last year and I have fun.” 1 With a renewed focus, Thomas " has transformed his game from hel - ter-skelter to solid and steady, putting up 19 assists to three TOs in his last 94 minutes. Thomas has even flashed anew wrinkle in his game —a jumper. "Overall I just wanted to be more aggres sive and more assertive, because my whole game has always been to get my teammates involved," Thomas said Friday. “I fed that if I’m more aggressive, then the defense has to often maintain their spacing and wait for the open 3-pointer from the kick-out (see diagrams). This is all made possible by Duke's shooting ability. Not sur prisingly. the Blue Devils rank No. 20 in the country in 3-pointers made per game, with nine on 23.1 attempts. Paulus, Jon Scheyer, Taylor King and Demarcus Nelson all shoot .397 or better from the outside. Both King and Paulus take more than 70 percent of their shots from 3-point land, and even 6-foot-8-inch freshman big man Kyle Singler steps out on the perimeter for more than 40 per cent of his field goal attempts. “I don’t really consider myself a post player," Singler said. "I play a lot of outside, too, but I just happen to guard the post on the opposing team." With the nation's No. 19 best field goal percentage, the Blue Devils also have seen plenty of success from inside the arc, thanks to Nelson and sophomore pogo stick Gerald Henderson, two slashers who take a minimal amount of 3’s. While the spacing helps the shooters, it also gives Nelson and Henderson the team's best one-on-one players and leading scorers lots of room to get to the basket themselves, allowing Duke to supplement its outside shooting. And when the Blue Devils do miss, the paint often is free for offensive rebound chances because the defenders are leeched to their perimeter-hugging coun ■ respect me to be able to score or just taking a shot in general, and that will leave my team mates open.” And UNC will need Thomas to emerge as a guy capable of handling the rock in key moments as the season progresses. History has shown teams that feature two or more guards capable of making plays for their teammates are more prone to win a title. Of the past 10 national champions, eight had two players who logged more than 100 assists on the year. North Carolina’s team in 2005 and the 2003 Syracuse squad did not follow the trend. As UNC learned against the Seminoles, you never can be sure if your starting floor general is going to be knocked out of the game due to fouls or in Lawson’s case, injury. And his absence immediately threw a gigantic mon key wrench into the North Carolina offense. But that doesn’t mean Williams will make any drastic changes in the Tar Heels’ game plan against the Blue Devils. “We’re gonna play the way that we’ve always played," Williams said. ‘Quentin has gotten a great deal of practice in the way we play. Repetitions every practice, every week with everybody else that starts. The problem is after that, because Marcus hasn’t had those." v'a ausm §p.. VBHL W m WEN . K||k nr A . ~ A look at Duke's plays Duke has changed its strategy when getting the ball to the hoop. Here s a look at a few of the plays the Tar Heels might face tonight. 0 Duke UNC-CH O Basket f )Tibb,in9 Shooting f assing PLAY ONE 1) No. 2 gets trie ball on the right wing and drives toward the hoop, drawing the two defenders under the hoop toward him. 2) No. 2 passes the ball across the floor to No. 5. waiting in the comer for an open 3-pointer PLAY TWO t) No. 1 drives past his man on the baseline toward the hoop, drawing the defender of No. 5. 2) No. t passes the ball to No. 5, drawing two more defenders into the left comer to guard against a 3-pointer. 3) No. 5 passes the ball to the now-open No. 4 on the left wing, who has a wide-open 3-pointer PLAY THREE 1) No. 4 utilizes the open space in the lane created by perimeter spacing to drive into the lane for two points. RESEARCH: JESSE BAUMGARTNER terparts. “It gives me lots of lanes to actually rebound a long miss or a floater or something of that nature," said pseudo-big man Lance Thomas, who ranks No. 3 on the team in offensive boards. While the game plan can have its downfalls, such as 21 per cent 3-point shooting in the loss to Pittsburgh, the Blue Devils Williams said Ttiesday he planned to have Ginyard run through drills during practice to prep the junior for a possible point guard stint But Duke’s pressure D isn’t the best envi ronment to test out anew lead guard, and UNC’s nine assists to 21 turnovers against the Seminoles showed what can happen to the Ifcr Heels when Lawson doesn't play. According to Ellington, the suddenness of Lawson’s injury contributed to the offensive woes. He believes with proper preparation, UNC can succeed even sans the stud sophomore. “I think we can do it," Ellington said. “I think that it was just something that sprung upon us, you know, iy getting hurt —it was unexpected. And I think that now that iy may not play... I think we’re more prepared now. *1 think we’ll definitely be way better than that (tonight)’ Contact the SporU Editor at sporU@uncxdu. (Ttir Daily (Ear Hrrl already have ridden the free wheeling Spatial Express to 19 wins and three 90-point games in their last five. “Our offense has run pretty well,” Krzyzewski said. “The more we do it, the better we’re going to be at it’ Contact the Sports Editor at sporU@unc.edu.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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