DBP Newsletter #75
Duke's Toughness
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Duke executed poorly on several instances against Houston, particularly to close both halves. And, as I mentioned in the previous newsletter, all 61 possessions in that game were important.1 Coach Scheyer, Cooper, and Kon all acknowledged Duke’s lack of execution in the postgame press conference:
“Obviously as a coach, I'm reflecting right now what else I could have said or done. I'm sure there's a lot more that I could have done to help our guys at the end there. That's the thing that kills me the most. The amount of game situations we've watched this year. We haven't had the real-life experience all the time, but that's something I really felt we prepared for. So I feel like I let our guys down in that regard. But I'll cross that bridge the next couple days. Right now I'm just hurting for our guys, want to be there for them.” - Coach Scheyer
“Just communication. I thought me and Sion messed up a switch. Got to get the ball inbounds, find whatever we got to do, find a way to get the ball inbounds. I think that was a big messed-up communication play between me and Sion that led to a big three.” - Cooper Flagg
“I think probably both equally. They're a really good defensive team. I didn't think we were sharp the last, whatever it was you said, ten and a half minutes. I didn't think we were as sharp on our execution as we had been for the first 10 minutes of the second half. Tip our hats. They're a really good defensive team.” - Kon Knueppel
Of course, plays in the final minutes are viewed through a magnifying glass, leading folks to write about the game using words like “choke” and “collapse.” I even saw an article questioning the impact on Jon Scheyer’s legacy.2 And though I don’t usually pay much attention to what’s being said regarding Duke, it becomes increasingly difficult to avoid this time of year. Don’t get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their own opinion - I’m not criticizing anyone else’s analysis. If someone’s takeaway from the game is that Duke choked, or that Jon Scheyer “can’t win the big one,” that’s totally fine.3
But what I saw, especially on the re-watch, was two excellent teams trading punches in a physical, high-level basketball game. Both teams made it difficult to score while, at the same time, both teams had strong offensive stretches. Both teams made winning plays, and credit Houston for making a couple more.
Game Flow
It was a back and forth game. Duke had first half stretches of 10-3 and 13-4, while Houston responded with 6-0 and 9-3 spurts of their own. Duke opened the second half with an 18-9 span, and then answered Houston’s 10-0 run with a clutch 5-0 response. Houston outscored Duke 11-1 over the final 1:27. Back to the boxing analogy, it was a round by round fight, with neither team gaining an edge for very long.4
Winning Plays
Despite not being sharp with their execution on both ends of the floor, Duke also made winning plays on college basketball’s biggest stage - these should be part of the story as well. The NCAA still hasn’t made the full replay available, so I grabbed what clips I could from the condensed highlights and simply listed a few other plays.5
Duke shared it well, taking advantage of Houston putting two on the ball. Shooters did a nice job of relocating into space, with hands and feet ready.
1 - After a contest at the rim, Kon pushes it up and hits Cooper - he makes the extra pass to Sion in the right corner.
2 - Kon catches off the Iverson action, and Khaman follows to set a ball screen. Houston blitzes the ball, leaving Maluach open on the roll - the Cougars help up, and Sion reads the open slot cut. Give Khaman credit for good footwork to prevent a travel, and for the on-time pass.
3 - After Sion corrals the offensive rebound (not shown), he finds Tyrese on the left wing. Rese drives the closeout and draws two defenders. Cooper does a nice job sliding down the three-point line to create a better passing angle.
4 - As Khaman screens on the left side, Houston is top-locking Knueppel so he goes backdoor. Then, Kon ghosts a cross-screen for Tyrese and comes off the down-screen from Sion on the right wing. Houston still gets a contest, but Kon knocks it down.
5 - Kon works into the post off baseline out of bounds - Houston sends the double once his feet get to the paint. Sion sneaks behind the defense for the layup.
1 - Sion sets a ball screen for Cooper to force a switch. With Roberts now on Sion, Flagg works into the paint, gives an up-and-under, and finishes the lefty and-1.
2 - Sion rebounds a miss and gives it to Coop. It’s not a fast break, but Flagg elects to probe Houston’s transition D - he uses a left-right crossover to get an angle to the rim. Tugler does a nice job staying in the play, forcing a tough finish off the glass.
3 - Tyrese hits Maliq on the short roll as Houston blitzes the ball screen - Maliq immediately sends it back out to Coop for the corner three. After two offensive rebounds by Houston, Kon provides resistance in the post without fouling. This gives Cooper a chance to come over and erase the shot.
Sion James (5) and Kon Knueppel (4) combined for 9 second half rebounds. With Houston all over the glass, defensive rebounds in traffic were huge plays - and Sion had two offensive rebounds that led to Duke’s 5 second chance points after halftime.
Tyrese Proctor: 2 made free throws (2H 3:44 - Duke 59 Houston 55)
Cooper Flagg: 2 made free throws (2H 1:26 - Duke 64 Houston 59). Flagg was 8 for 8 from the line on the night.
Credit Houston
LJ Cryer hit 4 of his 6 made three-pointers between the 2:00 mark of the first half and the 17:00 mark of the second half. Cryer finished with 26 points (6 of 9 from beyond the arc), and required the utmost attention from Duke’s defense. Tyrese did a nice job staying connected to Cryer, particularly in the second half.
Joseph Tugler grabbed all 8 of his rebounds after halftime, including 5 offensive, and made a nice block with 0:47 left in the game.
Credit Coach Sampson for defensive adjustments in the final 10 minutes - the Cougars put two guys on the ball less often to close the game, which forced Duke into some iso situations. Sampson also chose not to foul with Duke ahead 67-61 at the 1:08 mark. On the broadcast, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill were a little surprised Houston elected to play out the possession, which ended with Tugler’s block.
Houston was disruptive in the full court press, fighting hard to beat the Duke screens and putting good pressure on the baseline. In this picture, Tugler is big and wide on the ball, and Sharp fights to get over the screen and maintain contact with Knueppel. Houston’s press forced a timeout, a turnover, got a deflection, created a couple of difficult catches, and committed a technical foul.6 Like I said, disruptive.
Emanuel Sharp was terrific during Houston’s final push, starting with a second chance three when the Cougars trailed 56-42 with 11:40 remaining. Then, after Duke had defended for nearly a full minute, Sharp made a smart drive with the shot clock running down. It was wise of Duke not to risk a foul in that situation, and Sharp took advantage. He got to the free throw line twice after that, going 4 for 4 (not shown in the clip). Finally, as Flagg referenced postgame, Sharp capitalized on a miscommunication between Cooper and Sion.
J’Wan Roberts played like a fifth-year senior with 172 career games played. Roberts posted 11 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block - and hit two free throws with 19.6 seconds on the clock.
Toughness
Duke made 1 field goal in the final 10:31, and was outscored 25-9 in that span.
In the second half, Duke was -8 in second chance points, and made just 5 of 16 two-pointers.
Houston had second half runs totaling 21-1, including a 6-point offensive trip at the 8:02 mark. In fact, Houston used their scoring runs to combine for 36 points in just 7:54 of game time. The Cougars only scored 34 points over the other 32:06.
In the second half, Duke missed some good shots, had a couple of untimely turnovers, and needed a few more defensive rebounds. But after looking at these numbers, especially the haymakers Houston threw over that 7:54 span, I’m so proud of Duke’s toughness. With Houston’s relentless rebounding, quick scoring runs, and physical defense, few teams would still be in a position to close out that game. Credit Houston? Absolutely. Poor execution from Duke? Yes. Tremendous toughness and effort from Duke? No doubt in my mind. Upon returning to campus, Coach Scheyer summed it up well.
Thanks for reading, Go Duke!
61 total possessions
Duke 1.10 point-per-possession
Houston 1.15 points-per-possession
Is that the first time a 37-year old coach’s legacy has been brought up?
Though I do always want to ask people to define what they mean by choke.
1st Half: 14:42-8:53 (Duke 10-3); 8:53-7:47 (Houston 6-0); 7:47-2:07 (Duke 13-4); 2:07-0:00 (Houston 9-3)
2nd Half: 20:00-8:17 (Duke 18-9); 8:17-5:03 (Houston 10-0); 5:03-2:05 (Duke 5-0); 1:27-0:00 (Houston 11-1)
Which is partially why this newsletter was delayed a day or two, I was waiting to see if I could get the full game. I plan to go back and cut some additional clips once it’s available.
Unfortunately, it was only a one shot technical (class B). I need to brush up on what is class A versus class B.
Point #2 is a great perspective. Give the guy a min to establish a legacy first !