Tag Archives: NCAA Tournament

The Key Three: Duke vs. Creighton

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Tonight, the second-seeded Blue Devils will look to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament as they face seventh-seeded Creighton in the Round of 32 at 9:40 EST.

Here are your three keys to the game for Duke to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011:

1. Slowing down Doug

Creighton’s Doug McDermott—the heart and soul of the Blue Jays—might be the most well-rounded offensive player in the nation. The 6-foot-8 junior nets 23.2 points per game and can put the rock in the basketball in a variety of ways. Senior forward Ryan Kelly—who is a similar player and acquitance of McDermott—will have the assignment of slowing down the two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. McDermott is the only Blue Jay that averages double figures in scoring. McDermott is going to score, but if Kelly and the Blue Devils can force him to take more difficult shots than normal and prevent him from getting in a groove, then they have an excellent shot at advancing.

2. Owning the glass

Arguably Duke’s biggest weakness this year has been its vulnerability on the boards. Bigger, more physical frontcourts have exposed it during the season. Against a faster, more finesse Blue Jay squad Sunday night, the Blue Devils should dominate in the interior. In the Albany game on Fri., Duke only edged the smaller Great Danes 27-23 on the glass.

Creighton’s Gregory Echenique—a bruising 6-foot-9, 260-pound center—leads the team in rebounding with 9.7 boards per outing. Getting a body on him is critical to Duke’s success. McDermott, who primarily plays on the perimeter, is the team’s next best on the glass at 7.6 rebounds per game.

3. Cook keeps cooking

Quinn Cook was superb in his first tournament game as the full-time starting point guard, dropping 11 dimes against Albany. Cook’s play was a big reason why Mason Plumlee had a hay day against Albany. Plumlee finished with with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting. The Blue Devils desperately need their sophomore floor general to play mistake-free basketball and continue to distribute the ball like he did Fri. afternoon. Cook’s play may be even more important as the Blue Devils try to slow the game down a bit against a Blue Jay team that loves to get out in push the pace offensively.

Best quotes: previewing Duke vs. Creighton

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No. 2 seed Duke and No. 7 seed Creighton talked about the importance of Sunday’s Round of 32 matchup and their preparation for the ensuing battle in their pre-game press conferences Saturday.

Here are some of the best quotes from the Blue Devils:

  • “This is our senior year.  If we lose, we’re done playing basketball for Duke.  We don’t want to accept that.  We can’t afford to lose.”—Ryan Kelly
  • “Being at Duke, you walk through our Hall of Fame, just walk on our court and see the banners, like you know what’s at stake and what there is to be gained by winning this tournament.  I think the young guys have a pretty good understanding of what it means.”—Mason Plumlee
  • “You know, we’ve been lucky to be in great moments.  I think the tournament is a tournament of moments, and I believe as we—it’s kind of like the Masters in golf, where you remember what happened on the 16th hole in 1964.  I don’t know golf that much, so don’t quote me on it, and I think moments should always be celebrated in the current tournament that you’re playing, because the current tournament you’re playing brings forward all the past tournaments.”—Mike Krzyzewski

And the best quotes from the Blue Jays:

  • “It’s a huge opportunity for our program, like Grant said, ever since we lost to Carolina last year we’ve been working for this moment, and we’re finally here.  So we’re really excited about it.  It’s come really fast, but we’re ready for it and definitely excited to get out there and play them.”—Doug McDermott
  • “I’ve coached against [Coach Krzyzewski] before, so I’m part of his, I don’t know, 1,500 wins or whatever the heck he has now.  It seems like he’s got a lot.  But I coached against him when I was at Iowa State.  It was not a pleasant experience.  The most pleasant part of it was probably shaking his hand before the game.  After that it wasn’t that much fun.  They put it on us pretty good. But obviously he’s been great for college basketball, a great ambassador for basketball in general with his role with team USA and what he’s done at the collegiate level.  He’s been a—there aren’t many that have had the impact on college basketball that Coach K has.  It’s an honor to know him and certainly stand on the same court with him.”—Greg McDermott, Creighton head coach and father of Doug McDermott

Krzyzewski touches on Harvard’s upset win over New Mexico

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Led by Crimson head coach Tommy Amaker—a former player at Duke—No. 14 seeded Harvard, the Ivy League champions, knocked off No. 3 New Mexico Thurs. night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson’s win over the Mountain West champion Lobos is arguably the biggest upset to date of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski touched on Harvard’s victory in his press conference following the Blue Devils’ 73-61 win over Albany Fri. afternoon:

Q: I know you’re busy this time of year, but I was wondering if you had time last night to watch what Tommy did with Harvard.

Krzyzewski: “Yeah, I watched, and then—I didn’t fall asleep while they were playing, I fell asleep at halftime, so don’t let Amaker think that I was letting him down.  But when I woke up ‑‑ I didn’t turn off the game, let’s put it that way, and when I woke up they had the lead, and then I stayed up.  I thought it was an unbelievably well played game by both teams.

You know, Tommy, he and Johnny and Alarie and Bilas, Henderson, they all started this stuff.  So Tommy is like a son to me and I’m ecstatic for him, really.  He’s done that with losing his two best players this year.  I’m not going to want to schedule them next year.  They’ve got everybody back and those two guys.”

Q.  Following up, how high is the limit, do you think, for a program like Harvard?

Krzyzewski: The limit for Harvard?

Q.  Yeah.

Krzyzewski::  I mean, they’ve got a chance—if they beat New Mexico they’ve got a chance to beat anybody.  New Mexico had a chance to beat anybody.  In this tournament really anybody, especially this year, can win as long as you are not satisfied with the position that you got to.  And it seems like a lot of teams are not satisfied with it, and that’s why you have all these games.  I think three 12s have won already.

And then the seeding of some of those teams probably is—like how did it happen.

 

Duke basketball vs. Albany Live Updates

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Duke 73, Albany 61 (FINAL): With about a minute and half remaining, Albany went into foul mode in an effort to try and extend the game. Duke held on by converting at the charity stripe in the final minute of the game.

Photo Credit: Caroline Rodriguez/The Chronicle

Duke 66, Albany 56 (3:59 , second half): The Danes won’t seem to die. Duke has had a 15-point advantage several times in the first half. A big three-pointer by Peter Hooley brought Albany within 10 points of the Blue Devils.

Two free throws by Iati brought the Danes within eight points. Duke responded with a crucial tip off a missed shot by Kelly back to Curry, who drove in for an easy layup to put the Blue Devils back up by double digits.

Duke 60, Albany 45 (7:17, second half): Curry and Plumlee continue to lead the way for Duke. The duo has 36 points and 10 rebounds. Kelly is also contributing significantly with eight points and six boards.

Cook’s passing is making the Great Danes scratch their heads. The sophomore has nine assists thus far.

Albany’s shooting from behind the arc, connecting on 7-of-12 3-pointers thus far, is keeping it in the game, but just barely.

Duke 54, Albany 38 (11:35, second half): Coming out of the Albany timeout Iati knocked down a three from the top of the key, only to have Curry return the favor and knock down his own long-range bucket on Duke’s ensuing possession.

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Duke target Jahlil Okafor picks the Blue Devils to win the tourney

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Jahlil Okafor—the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2014, according to ESPN—is picking Duke to win the NCAA Tournament.

In a Wed. USA Today article, Okafor talked about his rationale behind selecting the Blue Devils: “Duke. I just feel like they have the pieces this year. They have a great big man in Mason Plumlee and a tough backcourt with Quinn Cook and Seth Curry. Not to mention Ryan Kelly, who is just an animal. Then Rasheed Sulaimon too. I’m taking Duke.”

The 6-foot-10 post from Chicago—who is known for his terrific hands, impeccable footwork and NBA-caliber size—is considering Duke, North Carolina, Ohio State, Michigan State, Arizona, and Kentucky, among others.

Will Okafor pick the Blue Devils as his college destination this fall? This remains to be seen. The Duke coaching staff is considered to be in a very strong position with Okafor and his close friend Tyus Jones—the top-ranked point guard in the class of 2014.

Jones and Okafor have made it clear on numerous occasions that they would like to play together at the next level.

The two took an unofficial visit to Duke for Countdown to Craziness in October.

On the AAU circuit, Okafor has played with 2013 Duke commit Jabari Parker on the Mac Irvin Fire.

Okafor is a very important recruit for Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff given Okafor’s immense talent at a position that is at a premium—center. Duke has struggled to lure elite big men to Durham recently and could really use an impact big man to help change the image of the program a bit.

Dallas native Elijah Thomas—an elite big man in the class of 2015 who is considering Duke—had the Blue Devils in the Final Four.

Duke basketball’s Mike Krzyzewski sounds off on upcoming NCAA Tournament

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Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski held a press conference Tuesday before his team plays its first NCAA Tournament game Friday at 12:15 p.m. Duke is the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region and will square off with 15th-seeded Albany at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Here are some highlights from the 30-minute question and answer session:

Krzyzewski on the injury statuses of Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry:

“Everybody right now is ready to play Friday. Ryan is still good, Seth is doing well and it’s nice to have everybody. We have been practicing since the tournament and had a little bit of a slower day today with meetings, weight room and walk-through to give Seth and Ryan a day to do their rehab.”

Krzyzewski on whether Tyler Thornton or Rasheed Sulaimon will start Friday against Albany:

“Rasheed will start… breaking news.”

Krzyzewski on his team’s loss to Maryland in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal:

“With our program, the story for the last 25 years has not been about the times we are ready to play, it’s been about the few times that we haven’t been. Every human being fights a little thing called human nature. It’s a hell of a thing to fight, and the really good people win most of the time. That’s what our program has been about. In the last 17 years, our program has been a No. 1 or a No. 2 seed [15 times]. It’s more than our conference if you combine all the teams in our conference. So I knew how I was preparing our team…. Maryland is really good and human nature was really rampant that night.”

Krzyzewski on his team’s mindset entering the NCAA Tournament:

“We want to be in this moment, and not bring a lot of things in from other moments—including championships. That might make you soft. That’s what you’re fighting at this time, to be in their moment and be in the moment of the tournament.”

Krzyzewski on his team’s fight during the regular season:

“I think if you compared us with any team in the country, most people would say that during the regular season we did as well as anybody. But we didn’t win a regular season championship or a tournament championship. You can say injuries, but we didn’t. We did not do that. But overall in the 32 games we played, for most of them we played our butts off.”

Krzyzewski on the adversity his team has overcome during the season:

“We were in tough situations. We played the toughest schedule. Our guys did a great job, so they’re prepared. We just didn’t have the luxury of continuity in doing that. Having Ryan out for two months and not having Seth on a repeated basis in practice, the Seth thing was something we kind of adjusted to and the Ryan thing was a new thing. For the team to get hit with two unusual situations like that, they handled that well. So I think my team is going to play well and I love my seniors and what they’ve done. I think we’re going to be ready to go.”

Krzyzewski on how he addresses last year’s NCAA Tournament loss to Lehigh:

“You can’t focus on that. You talk about it and say ‘we weren’t ready’ or ‘we weren’t as together’ or whatever the heck happened. But I think the main thing that happened was C.J. McCollum and an outstanding Lehigh team. For the seniors I’d like for them to focus a little bit more on when they were freshmen. That was pretty good—they won a national championship.”

Krzyzewski on how he approaches the NCAA Tournament:

“I remember talking to Coach [Bob] Knight about it because you’re always trying to figure out psychologically how to be better. And he said ‘Each game is a championship game. And if you make it to the sixth championship game, you’re a veteran of winning championships.’”

Krzyzewski on Quinn Cook’s relationship with Nolan Smith:

“They’re from the same area and same AAU program, and Nolan is really one of the great kids of all-time…. They’ve really become brothers through one of the worst adversities of losing a father too early.”

Krzyzewski on Seth Curry’s ability to play through his injury:

“It’s been one of the most unique years. And you tend to forget because you watch him perform, and his year is absolutely incredible. In mid-September, a couple of the medical views on him were to operate right away and he would be out the whole year. So it’s not like a sprained ankle or anything like that, he’s managed a very serious injury. And his leg has actually gotten better, but it’s still not quite 100 percent.”