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 Tired Duke needs points from Langdon
Posted: Thursday June 24, 1999 04:06 PM
Sports Illustrated college basketball writer Seth Davis chatted with CNN/SI anchor Bob Lorenz about the Duke-UConn national championship game: Bob Lorenz: One thing that stands out about the Duke-Michigan State game was the physical style of play that the Spartans laid on the Blue Devils. Do you think that might carry over to tonight’s game? Seth Davis: I think it certainly might, Bob. That was a very tired basketball team on Saturday night, I talked to Chris Carrawell after the game and I asked him how he was doing and he said, “My legs, man, my legs are killing me.” Duke is a very beat-up basketball team, and for all the talk about Duke’s depth, I think it is a bit overrated. They really only go seven, maybe 7 1/2 deep. But I expect Mike Krzyzewski to use his reserves more extensively, in the first half especially. Expect to see more of Nate James, Corey Maggette, maybe even some more of Chris Burgess, even though this won’t be his type of game, as Duke rests its starters for the second half. Lorenz: Part of the focus, obviously, is going to be down low. Elton Brand did some damage in the semifinal game, 18 points, 15 rebounds. The guy assigned to him tonight, or at least one of the guys, Jake Voskuhl is a foul-prone guy. How do they keep him out of trouble? Davis: They are going to need to keep him out of trouble, that’s going to be one of the big keys for UConn tonight. Jake Voskuhl fouled out against Ken Johnson on Saturday -- if he plays like that, he won’t make it to halftime against Elton Brand. He is really going to have to make sure he is able to defend Brand as best he can without fouling, because once he goes to the bench, they bring in guys like Edmund Saunders or Kevin Freeman at 6’ 6’’ trying to guard Elton Brand in the post. It’s going to be enough of an advantage with Brand inside for Duke without Voskuhl being in the locker room in foul trouble. Lorenz: UConn likes to employ the press and it works on a lot of teams, but what about the Blue Devils? Davis: I think ball-handling is a potential weakness for Duke, Bob, and I don’t really think any team has tried to test Duke’s ball-handling this year. I expect UConn to try that tonight because really outside of William Avery, Duke doesn’t have anybody who can consistently bring up the ball against pressure. If they can get the ball out of Avery’s hands and force Langdon or Carrawell or Battier to bring up the ball, then Duke might start turning the ball over. One thing UConn can certainly do is to turn turnovers into points at the other end. I think that’s what they are going to try and do. Lorenz: Duke doesn’t necessarily need Langdon bringing up the ball, but they do need him to make the shots and in the semifinal game he only had seven points. If he came up with a 7-spot tonight, how tough is that going to be for Duke? Davis: He is certainly going to need to score more than seven points -- it was, after all, his season low. I think it is going to be important for Duke to try and get Langdon his shots early in the game and I think Langdon will be more of a factor tonight. After all I think UConn is going to have to double-team Brand in the post and that should free things up on the perimeter. Also, it will be more of an up-and-down kind of game, the guards come into play, so I think Langdon and Avery, who did not have an assist on Saturday, Bob, will be more of a factor tonight. Lorenz: Finally, Seth you got to spend a lot of time with Coach K Sunday, you got to sit down and chat with him. What’s his mindset right now as he goes into what could be a historic game for Duke? Davis: I think it’s a very healthy mindset coming into tonight’s game. This is his eighth Final Four -- he talked about how he didn’t really enjoy his other trips to the Final Four maybe as much as he should have because he was always looking to the next thing. Well, it has been about five years since he has been here and I think he appreciates it more. And I think it’s why Duke has been able to stay loose even with all the pressure. Yes, they’re being aggressive, yes, they have the pressure of all the expectations, but they’re still having fun and they’re enjoying the moment. I know that regardless of what happens tonight, Bob, Coach K really appreciates this Final Four, probably more than all the other ones. Lorenz: What are his thoughts about this being a team for the decade or a team of the ages? Everybody talks about this Duke team being one of the best ever.... Davis: Well, Krzyzewski doesn’t even think this team can beat his ‘92 team. But this team doesn’t have to play his ‘92 team. And he’s really amazed at the fact that they’ve been able to go 31-1 in the ACC over the past two years. He said that yesterday, he said, “You know that just shouldn’t happen.” So it is a different era, it is a very young team, and it is not going to stay together for a long time so we have to keep that in perspective. Certainly for its time, and if they win tonight, this Duke team will go down in history as one of the best.
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