DBP Newsletter #10
Flex Action, Tyrese Proctor, and Defensive Clips
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Miami Clips
Instead of set plays, Duke opened the game against Miami with two possessions of five-out offense. The ball movement is excellent on Duke’s first trip, ending with Tyrese calling for a middle ball screen from Khaman. Miami traps the ball screen and tags Khaman on the roll, leaving Kon and Sion open on the left side of the floor. With the Hurricanes in rotation, Kon passes to Sion and cuts to the basket for the return pass. The next time down, Kon goes backdoor to open up space on the right side of the floor. Tyrese comes off the screen and hits Khaman on the roll for a dunk, set up by Kon taking his defender with him on the cut.
It was evident Miami was focused on tagging Duke’s big men on any screen and roll. To counter this defensive coverage, Coach Scheyer used a wing ball screen with the corner occupied. As Caleb Foster comes off Ngongba’s screen, Mason Gillis’ defender helps in on Pat rolling to the basket. Mason lifts from the corner and knocks down the three. A few minutes later, Cooper and Pat run the same ball screen on the other side of the floor with the same result. Isaiah Evans’ man helps in on Ngongba, giving Slim the opportunity to relocate for the triple.
The Blue Devils also showed some flex action against Miami - here are three examples. Duke starts in a horns alignment and Tyrese enters the ball to Pat. Rese cuts to the basket, before screening for Sion in the right corner as Pat reverses the ball to Coop. Sion uses the flex-screen and receives the pass underneath, immediately kicking it out to Isaiah for the open three-pointer. Several possessions later, Tyrese sets the flex-screen for Kon in the right corner, with Gillis and Maluach as the horns. As Kon cuts through, Rese now sets a back-screen for Khaman for the lob dunk. The next possession is identical to start, but this time Kon is open on the flex cut - credit Isaiah for spacing the defense in the left corner, which occupies additional help, and credit Mason for completing a difficult pass.
Boston College Clips
Tyrese Proctor did a nice job scoring in a variety of ways, and at all three levels, against Boston College. First, Proctor uses a re-screen from Khaman and reads the defense. Chad Venning is in drop coverage for BC - instead of challenging the bigger defender, Rese pulls up for the mid-range jumper. Next, Proctor uses a hand-off and a ball screen from Ngongba - the defense is up on the screen this time, so Tyrese threads a pass to Pat for a great catch and finish. Then, after a Boston College turnover (credit Isaiah with the deflection), Tyrese is ready to shoot the three after Sion’s offensive rebound in transition. Proctor drives the closeout to start the second half, getting all the way to the rim - he uses good patience, and a subtle fake, to convert the layup. Out of a media timeout, the broadcast only caught the end of Proctor’s three-point play from baseline out of bounds - but the replay in the clip shows Rese going to set a screen for Coop, before flashing directly back to the ball. He banked it home and converted the free throw. Finally, Tyrese uses a ball screen from Cooper at the end of the shot clock. Proctor must operate quickly, hitting a behind-the-back, step-back three - he hit a similar move in the first half that was later ruled a two-pointer instead.
Duke led Boston College 49-41 early in the second half, before a defensive stretch put the game out of reach (see note below). Here are some defensive possessions from the second half in Boston.
BC Clip #2 shows Duke doubling down on Chad Venning in the post. First, Sion doubles from the opposite wing, while Venning works to back down Ngongba - James forces the jump ball. The Eagles inbound to Venning from the baseline - Cooper briefly takes the inbounder before doubling back for the steal.
The Blue Devils make it very difficult for Boston College on this possession. After the inbound pass, Duke switches multiple exchanges before Mason Gillis knocks the ball out of bounds after a nice lob entry from the Eagles. As BC takes it out again, Flagg is able to deflect the pass forcing another inbound situation. Boston College gets the ball in with five seconds left on the shot clock - Sion forces a contested step-back three, and Coop grabs a strong rebound at the apex of his jump.
Duke contests everything on these two possessions. Watch Sion harass the ball handler and then switch onto Venning, fronting him at the ACC logo before closing to the ball after Coop bumps him out. Boston College reverses the ball twice, this time with Tyrese fighting hard to front the post. The Eagles must force a three with the shot clock winding down. Proctor harasses the ball on the next trip, before defending the zoom action with Kon - the two switch the down-screen, with Rese chasing Donald Hand Jr. around the hand-off. Pat Ngongba does a nice job staying big to challenge the shot, and Mason Gillis grabs another strong rebound.
Defense turns to offense, and vice versa, in this final clip. After setting a ball screen, Chad Venning gets free on the roll before Cooper helps over from the corner to erase the layup. On the other end, Isaiah is open for three on the right wing because his man is helping down on Ngongba, who has a smaller defender in the post. Evans simply slides up into space and gets the assist from Coop. On the next possession, Coach Scheyer goes to one of my favorite actions Duke has used this season. Isaiah comes off a pin down from Khaman and fakes a hand-off with James. Sion’s cut removes the help from the left side of the floor. Evans reverses the ball to Flagg and immediately receives a flare-screen from Maluach. Coming back on defense, watch Cooper corral Dion Brown before helping on Venning in the post. Flagg then closes back out to Brown and runs him off the three-point line, before recovering to contest the drive and block the shot attempt.
Notes
Boston College scored 20 of their 28 points in the paint in the first half, en route to shooting 58.3% in the opening 20:00. BC shot just 32% from the field after halftime.
Over a 12:50 stretch of the second half (17:30 to 4:40), Miami made only three field goals. Similarly, Boston College made just one field goal over a 10:00 span of the second half (15:52 to 5:52). Duke was +30 (50-20) in those 22:50.
In the last two games, Pat Ngongba logged a total of 32:31, posting a +15 while making 4 of 5 field goal attempts. Pat combined for 8 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists.
The Blue Devils’ bench combined for 60 points against Miami and Boston College for a +39 advantage in that category - compare that to 11 combined bench points against Pitt and Notre Dame (-22).1 Duke’s bench has scored at least 17 points in all but four contests so far this season, while averaging 21.6 points per game.
Thanks for reading, Go Duke!
Duke Bench Points - at Boston College: 26 (+13); vs. Miami: 34 (+26); vs. Notre Dame 5 (-12); vs. Pittsburgh 6 (-10)
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