Yes No. 6 Duke plays elite defense. Just not all the time. That’s a problem.
Back in November, as Duke ascended to the nation’s No. 1 ranking, its Hall of Fame coach made it clear where he wanted his team’s focus to be.
“I want them to be aware of defensive matchups even more so than offensive matchups,” Mike Krzyzewski said on Nov. 12, “because that’s how our team is going to be built.”
Later that month, he liked what he’d seen.
“The defense has gotten better as we move along,” Krzyzewski said following a win over California on Nov. 21. “It has to keep getting better.”
With March approaching and carrying the season’s most important games, the Blue Devils have seen that solid defensive team — for the most part.
According to Ken Pomeroy’s advanced statistics, Duke is No. 8 in the country in defensive efficiency, allowing 89.3 points per 100 possessions. In ACC play, the Blue Devils have allowed 93.7 points per 100 possessions. Only Virginia (89 per 100) is better in league play.
Duke’s opponents have made just 29.3 percent of their 3-pointers, placing the Blue Devils No. 16 in the country in 3-point defense.
On the interior, the Blue Devils block 13.3 percent of their opponents shots. That’s No. 26 nationally. The record steals on 11.7 percent of their opponent’s possessions, No. 23 in the country.
So all that is impressive and a big reason why the Blue Devils (22-4, 12-3 ACC) are among the favorites to win the NCAA championship.
Of course, a dark cloud descended on those dreams and fancy statistics Wednesday night when N.C. State pounded No. 6 Duke 88-66 at PNC Arena.
The Wolfpack scored 1.16 points per possession, making it Duke’s worst defensive performance of the season in that category.
N.C. State hit 8 of 13 3-point shots (61.5 percent), beating Duke in an area where it has been strong all season.
Duke blocked just five shots (8.6 percent of NC State’s shots) and recorded four steals, doing so on 5.3 percent of the Wolfpack’s possessions.
In a nutshell, the Blue Devils played like they didn’t really care if they won or lost and, in the words of sophomore point guard Tre Jones, got what they deserved.
After the game the Blue Devils accepted blame for their sorry performance and vowed to learn from it going forward.
“We didn’t believe this was in us,” Duke freshman forward Cassius Stanley said Wednesday night. “We’ve just got to get better. It’s not anything to sit down and break down. We got ourselves in a hole. It was just terrible.”
The problem is, as bad as it was, this wasn’t a one-off occurrence for Duke’s defense.
N.C. State is the third team in six games this month to score more than a point per possession against the Blue Devils. Syracuse recorded 1.14 points and North Carolina was at 1.03.
Duke played well enough on offense to claim both games, topping the Orange 97-88 on Feb. 1 and the Tar Heels 98-96 in overtime on Feb. 8.
But they couldn’t overcome those shortcomings against N.C. State. Duke scored just 0.87 points per possession thanks to woeful shooting from the 3-point (4 of 17) and free throw lines (10 of 22).
Krzyzewski’s focus on defense, which he thought looked promising in November, took a hit on Nov. 22 when Stephen F. Austin shocked his then No. 1-Blue Devils 85-83 in overtime at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Lumberjacks scored 64 points in the paint that night as Duke allowed far too many open driving lanes to the basket.
That deficiency has been on display, at times, again this month.
According to statistics from Synergy Sports Technology, N.C. State had 54 shot attempts in the lane on Wednesday night. The Wolfpack made 21 of them and were fouled on nine others.
Of those 54 shots, 37 of them were at the rim, such as layups or put backs.
UNC also found plenty of high-percentage shots inside against Duke. The Tar Heels also had 54 shots in the lane, including 31 at the rim. UNC hit 22 shots in the lane and were fouled on 18 others.
Compare that to Duke’s 70-65 win over Florida State on Feb. 10. On a night where they held the Seminoles to just 0.92 points per possession, the Blue Devils allowed Florida State 29 shots in the lane. Only 29 of them were at the rim.
More often than not, the Blue Devils have played strong defense. Their national rankings for the season prove that.
But performances like Wednesday night — and against Syracuse and UNC — show Duke isn’t invincible on that end.
For Duke to win the championships it annually strives for in March and April, its defense must be there with even more regularity.
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 2:39 PM.