All grown up inside

Williams gives Duke much-needed post presence

DURHAM, N.C. -- He takes it strong to the hoop, even against a double-team. He can nail a fadeaway jumper one possession, come back with a sweet baby hook the next.

He blocks enough shots to alter the outcome of the game and he crashes the boards with crisp abandon.

Such a smooth game for such a young center. If Shelden Williams were about 7 inches taller -- and Chinese -- you might even mistake him for Yao Ming.

But while the NBA’s acclaimed rookie sensation looked like he belonged from Day 1, it has taken Duke’s much-touted freshman about three months to look so sound.

But now that he does …

"He’s given us that inside presence we’ve longed for all year," said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

While it was Dahntay Jones and J.J. Redick who hit the big shots down the stretch allowing Duke to fend off Maryland in the teams’ biannual clash Wednesday, it was Williams’ 13 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots -- fresh on the heels of his first 20-point night Saturday against Virginia -- that had to be the most pleasing to Blue Devils followers.

The jury’s still out as to whether this Duke team has what it takes to earn the school its 14th Final Four appearance. The consensus for much of the season has been a resounding no, considering the Blue Devils’ firepower and intimidation factor aren’t quite where they’ve been in recent years.

But that was before their 78-59 victory at Virginia, a possible turning point not only because it snapped their uncharacteristic four-game ACC road skid, but because it marked a change in philosophy that carried over to Wednesday’s 75-70 follow-up downing of the Terps.

"We didn’t have any inside presence [before Virginia] because our perimeter game wasn’t giving them any opportunities," point guard Chris Duhon said. "We made a change where we started having more motion, everyone touches the ball. That’s going to give a guy like Shelden more confidence."

Williams admits something has "clicked" for him the past two games, prior to which he had shown flashes of the skills that made him one of the nation’s top incoming freshmen, but he had gone five straight games prior to Virginia without reaching double-digits. His inconsistency hardly was unique among the Blue Devils’ inside players -- Williams, seniors Casey Sanders and Nick Horvath and freshman Shavlik Randolph -- earning them the dreaded "soft" label among ACC observers.

In Duke’s first showdown with Maryland, an 87-72 debacle at College Park, the Terps outrebounded the Devils 43-32 and got 25 combined points from big men Ryan Randle and Tajh Holden while holding the entire Duke foursome to a combined 11.

Wednesday, "it was almost like two different teams," said Williams.

So why then was the game still such a struggle for the Blue Devils, who didn’t survive until Steve Blake’s last-second 3-pointer from the top of the arc misfired?

Because regardless of Williams’ development, Duke is still very much a 3-point shooting team -- but not exactly a great one.

The Blue Devils do make 34 percent, but they’re prone to nasty cold stretches like Wednesday’s 2-of-13 display in the first half -- 1-of-6 from Redick.

Previously, their remedy to such maladies was to just keep shooting, and that hasn’t always worked out -- see Florida State.

But Wednesday there was a new line of thinking echoing through Duke’s huddle -- emanating from a new voice.

"One timeout in the second half, [Williams] said, 'Coach, can I say something?'" Krzyzewski said. "He said, 'Listen, I was getting the ball a lot in the first half and for about six minutes I haven’t touched it. Give me the ball!'

"As soon as he said that all the guys were like, 'Yeah!' You want a guy to say something like that and mean it."

As it turned out, the soft-spoken Williams remained quiet offensively in the second half, with Redick finding his touch and lifting the Blue Devils with three treys. But as the calendar nears March, Williams’ words -- and play -- couldn’t come at a better time.

Jones and Redick are still the go-to guys on this team, but how Williams is utilized down the stretch will ultimately determine how far Duke goes.

While Krzyzewski remains intensely loyal to Sanders and Horvath, they are essentially stick figures in comparison to Williams. Even the equally touted Randolph doesn’t have such upside.

Williams is far from flawless -- looking confused on defense sometimes, waiting for the refs to bail him out on some inside tussles -- but he is the closest thing to what Carlos Boozer gave the past three seasons. And on raw talent alone, Williams may eventually eclipse him.

“As he matures and learns the game, the sky’s the limit for that kid,” said Jones.

The ceiling may not be quite as high for Duke’s postseason possibilities this year.

But they’ll go a lot further if the kid gets the ball.

Stewart Mandel covers college sports for SI.com.

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