2. Duke
Last year the timid young Blue Devils ended their season in disastrous fashion; this year they're older, bolder and wiser
Posted: Wednesday November 18, 1998 12:14 PM
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Duke has beefed up its inside attack, which features Brand as
the go-to
guy. Brian Spurlock |
With 9:32
remaining in last season's South Regional final in St. Petersburg
and Duke leading Kentucky 71-54, Blue Devils freshman
forward Shane Battier peeked up at the scoreboard and
turned his thoughts toward cutting down the nets and going
to the Final Four. When the
game ended in an 86-84 Duke loss, Battier studied the
Tropicana Field scoreboard again and committed that moment
of deep disappointment to memory. "We were like the
Big Bad Wolf," he says, "huffing and puffing, but
we just couldn't knock the door down and
crash the
party."
This year's Blue Devils lineup is a more seasoned bunch and
has every intention of reaching the Final Four, which in a
luscious coincidence will be held at Tropicana Field.
"I think we're going to be really good, so I like the
high expectations," says
coach Mike
Krzyzewski, who in his 18 seasons at Duke has reached seven Final
Fours, more than any active coach. "I don't have a
problem with telling my guys that we want to win a national
championship."
The expectations in Durham are as huge as Duke's
frontcourt, which includes four players who are
6'8" or taller. With that skyline at his
disposal,
Krzyzewski has shifted his team's offensive emphasis from the
perimeter to the paint.
Sophomore Elton Brand, who averaged 17.0 points and 7.6
rebounds in helping the U.S. win a gold medal at this
summer's Goodwill Games, is a strong player of the year
candidate, and Battier (53 blocks, 51 steals, 29 drawn
charges) is one of the nation's top defenders. Those two
and sophomore Chris Carrawell will get plenty of room to
maneuver down low as long as
Trajan Langdon consistently knocks down his jumpers. Though he
shot nearly 40% from behind the arc in 1997-98, the senior
guard has a history of
late-season funks: In his three years in
Durham he has hit 49.6% of his threes before
Feb. 16 but only 35.3%
after.
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| STARTING LINEUP |
| POS. | HT. | CLASS | KEY STAT |
| SF Chris Carrawell | 6'6" | Jr. | 10.1 ppg |
| PF Shane Battier* | 6'8" | So. | 6.4 rpg |
| C Elton Brand* | 6'8" | So. | 59.2 FG% |
| SG Trajan Langdon* | 6'3" | Sr. | 14.7 ppg |
| PG William Avery | 6'2" | So. | 8.5 ppg |
'97-98 record: 32-4
Final rank (coaches' poll): No. 5
*Returning starter
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Duke's success, however, will hinge most on whether
sophomore guard William Avery develops into a dependable
playmaker. Avery, an eager shooter who launched more than
100 three-point attempts despite averaging less than 20
minutes, must improve his
assist to turnover ratio (87 to
60).
It's no secret that poor half-court execution in the final
10 minutes against Kentucky cost Duke a ticket to last
year's Final Four, and the reason may have been a lack of
experience in big games. Five of the nine Blue Devils who
played against the
Wildcats were freshmen or sophomores. "We were wide-eyed
and tentative, and Kentucky showed the moxie of a
champion," Battier says. "It's like monkey see,
monkey do. This year we've got a lot more
swagger."
Battier recalls that as the team bus pulled out of the gate
at Tropicana Field last March, he was beginning to sense
that moxie stirring inside him. As he watched the dome
shrinking in the distance, he had one thought: See ya next
year. —Tim
Crothers
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