Head coaches Andy Enfield (SMU), Chris Markwood (Maine), and Bill Courtney (Miami) all have direct experience this season of playing against and losing against Duke’s defense. The Blue Devils have one of the most effective defenses in the country in addition to being the best defense in the ACC.
Head coach Jon Scheyer’s club has limited six opponents to a season-low output and allowed only 59.6 points per game while playing three freshmen. That type of dominance is not produced by talent and size alone. Defense requires concentration, communication, and buy-in.
“I love coaching this entire team because they respond,” Scheyer stated during a press conference on January 23. It all boils down to being tough and having a protective attitude while attempting to preserve your paint as much as possible.
Then, and most all, how do you cover one another? That has been our main concern. Controlling the offense’s choices is the aim of a strong defensive squad. Some teams, such as Houston, a defensive powerhouse that has been around for a long time, do this by forcing opponents to make mistakes. Others had special schemes that made offenses uneasy, such as Syracuse’s 2-3 zone under former Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim.
The simplicity of Duke’s defensive dominance this season is what’s most impressive. In terms of thefts per game, the Blue Devils are not among the top 200 teams in the country.
They virtually always play man-to-man and hardly ever alter their strategy in between games, with the exception of their recent victories over Wake Forest and N.C. State. By playing solid, fundamental defense, Scheyer’s squad has shut down the opposition until they can no longer stand it.
After all, scoring on the tallest squad in the nation is difficult. For Duke, it starts there: All of the players who get consistent playing time are at least six feet five.
Beginning when the shot clock begins to run down and hardly ever stopping until its merciless scream 30 seconds later, this causes serious issues for players trying to score. According to KenPom, the opponents of the Blue Devils actually have the sixth-longest average possession duration. On the road, Duke defeated Louisville with a defensive clinic.
Duke organized a defense seminar on December 8. All five Cardinals touched the ball on one possession, but none of them were able to hit the hoop. Every offensive player who caught the ball and positioned themselves was harassed by defenders.
Players are usually instructed to divide the space between their man and the ball, creating what is called the gap, when they are guarding someone away from the ball handler. This area can be reduced and a defender can simultaneously protect both attacking players with a wingspan of about seven feet.
A team will set ball screens to gain an advantage when direct drives are few. The choices available to both defenders in coverage include sliding off the screener to attempt a 3-pointer or double-teaming, also known as blitzing, the ball handler. In order to invalidate the screen, the two defenders rotate guarding duties in the simplest coverage strategy.
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