UNC's weaknesses exposed in loss to Duke

About 12 hours after one of the wildest finishes in the history of the Duke-North Carolina rivalry left the Blue Devils with an 85-84 victory, some thoughts from a UNC perspective …

First …

The Tar Heels haven’t yet developed a consistent killer instinct. It’s one of the oldest clichés in sports, this notion of having a “killer instinct.” And yet it’s so important, too. The best teams put opponents away when they have the opportunity.

And UNC on Wednesday night had plenty of opportunities to put Duke away. The Heels led by 13 with 15:08 to play, by 12 with 7:20 to play, by 11 with 4:59 to play, by 10 with 2:38 to play. And then that’s when Duke began a 13-2 run it used to close the game and steal the victory.

Against lesser opponents, UNC has at times this season played well down the stretch. Once the Heels opened up a double-digit lead against N.C. State, for instance, that game was over. And in the final minutes at Maryland on Saturday, UNC made some clutch plays and pulled away.

Against Duke, the Heels had so many chances to put the game away. But they let the Blue Devils hang around, and hang around, and hang around. Credit goes to Duke, too, of course. The Devils were at their best in the final couple of minutes. They made improbable shots. They forced turnovers.

Even so, UNC had this game in its grasp. And let it slip away.

Second …

UNC’s weaknesses were exposed, again. As good as the Tar Heels have been defensively for much of the season, perimeter defense has remained a concern. As has suspect free-throw shooting. And bench production.

All three of those things hurt UNC on Wednesday night. It was no secret that Duke was going to shoot a lot of 3’s and, still, the Heels often left Duke open on the perimeter. The shot that Austin Rivers made to win it at the buzzer was contested (by Tyler Zeller, who switched to guarding Rivers after Duke set a screen for him), but several of the Devils’ other 36 3-point attempts weren’t.

Then there was the free-throw shooting. UNC has been the worst free-throw shooting team in the ACC this season, yet the Heels were 13 of 15 from the line during the first half. The law of averages caught up, though, and UNC made only 8 of its 15 free throws during the second half. Two of the misses came from Zeller in the final minute.

And then there was bench production. The Heels bench combined to produce 6 points and four rebounds. Reserves not named James Michael McAdoo produced zero points and one rebound.

Third …

The Tar Heels failed to play to their strengths. Neither of these teams matched up particularly well with the other. Duke entered the game as a strong perimeter shooting team that wasn’t known for rebounding or defense.

UNC, meanwhile, entered as one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country – and as one of the best transition teams in the country. The Tar Heels wanted to score as quickly as possible, and also wanted to take advantage of second-chance opportunities.

But they did neither. UNC forced 10 Duke turnovers but the Tar Heels had just six fast-break points. After missed shots and turnovers, both, the Heels rarely generated easy scoring opportunities. They also failed to turn offensive rebounds into points.

UNC had 15 offensive rebounds, but scored just 12 points off of those. Duke had fewer offensive rebounds (12) but turned those into more points (17).

So to put this another way, Duke was better at maximizing its strength (3-point shooting) and hiding its weakness (rebounding and defense) than UNC was at maximizing its strengths. The Heels needed to score in transition and they needed to take advantage of second-chance opportunities, but they couldn’t – or didn’t.

-- Andrew Carter

VIDEO: Highlights from Duke's rally to beat UNC

Highlights from the Duke-UNC basketball game Thursday night, including an interview with Austin Rivers, who made the winning three-pointer at the buzzer:

Duke-UNC: Three keys for Devils in tonight's ACC clash

Duke's problems with consistency and intensity were on display in its 78-74 overtime loss to Miami on Sunday, when the Blue Devils fell behind by double digits in the first half against the Hurricanes and couldn't quite come all the way back for the victory.

It would be a surprise if either was an issue tonight against the Tar Heels.

In a sense, the rivalry game comes at a perfect time for the No. 10 Blue Devils (19-4, 6-2), who have needed multiple shots in the arm this season. With UNC on the docket, motivation shouldn't be an issue.

Of course, there's the question of the team's confidence after the loss to Miami. But the Blue Devils have proven to a pretty solid team this year when they're locked in. Assuming they don't misplace their motivation, here are three keys for tonight's game (9 p.m. WBTV, ESPN):

1. Win the Rivers vs. Barnes matchup

One would expect the two touted recruits would guard each other at some point of the festivities and perhaps for a majority of the time.

Harrison Barnes' height - he's 6-foot-8 - will certainly pose problems for the 6-foot-4 Austin Rivers. But Rivers speed could challenge the hobbled Barnes, who has said he will play despite the ankle injury he suffered against Maryland.

It's hard to see many paths to victory for Duke if this matchup breaks UNC's way in a decisive manner.

2. Wear down Kendall Marshall

In Marshall, UNC has one of the top point guards in the country.

In Tyler Thornton, Quinn Cook and Seth Curry, Duke has a point guard rotation that is dictated by the matchup and who is playing well. With Marshall not having much in the way of a serviceable backup, the Blue Devils' best hope will be to try and wear Marshall down as best they can.

Otherwise, Marshall's incisive passes into the post or to teammates in transition could be the death of the Blue Devils.

3. Come up with its defensive effort of the year

UNC and Duke lead the ACC in scoring offense. The problem for the Blue Devils is that the Tar Heels' defense (second in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense, and 14th in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted defense ranking) is significantly better than Duke's (last in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense and 91st in the KenPom rankings).

Duke has shown it can defend in stretches this season. Most of the time, those stretches have come after prolonged periods when opposing teams have had free reign to run their offense. But if the Blue Devils can pay attention to detail for 40 minutes, not get lost on screens and remember to help every time, perhaps they can flip this storyline.

If not, someone's going to have to hit a lot of 3-pointers.

Tudor: A few UNC-Duke hoops moments to remember

There's almost never a Duke vs. UNC basketball game that comes up short on memories. Here are just a few of the many rivalry meetings that are worth noting:

• Mar. 1, 1957: Lennie Rosenbluth's final Duke-UNC game. He had 40 points and 12 rebounds to lead an 86-72 UNC win in Durham. The Heels went on to finish 32-0.

• Mar. 4, 1960: Duke's 71-69 win in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Raleigh keyed Harold Bradley's team to an unlikely league title. Duke beat Wake Forest in the title game after 6-6 center Carroll Youngkin's 30 points sank UNC.

• Feb. 4, 1961: The brawl in Cameron erupted when Duke's Art Heyman and UNC's Larry Brown swapped licks under the UNC basket late in the game. The Devils won 81-77 and Heyman finished with 36 points.

• Mar. 2, 1968: Fred Lind came off the Duke bench to score 16 points, grab nine rebounds and block three shots in the Blue Devils' 87-86 triple-overtime win.

• Mar. 2, 1974: The famous eight points/17 seconds Tar Heel rally in Chapel Hill. Walter Davis hit the 30-foot jumper to force an overtime and the eventual UNC 96-92 win.

• Dec. 5, 1980: The final Big Four event in Greensboro ended with a 78-76 UNC win. It was the first UNC-Duke game for Mike Krzyzewski. James Worthy had 26 points and nine rebounds in the win.

• Feb. 28, 1981: Mike Krzyzewski's first Duke team won only 17 games but Gene Banks and Kenny Dennard made their Senior Night special with a 66-65 overtime win over the 11^th-ranked Tar Heels.

• Mar. 3, 1984: Final home game for UNC's Sam Perkins, junior Michael Jordan and Matt Doherty went to two overtimes before UNC escaped 96-93.

• Jan. 18, 1989: Duke fans chanted "J.R. Can't Reid!" repeatedly during warm-up drills. Dean Smith was livid and Reid responded with 13 points and 10 rebounds as UNC stunned the top-ranked Devils, 91-71.

• Feb. 5, 1992: Eric Montross left some blood on the Smith Center playing court but the Heels got a 75-73 win over top-ranked Duke.

• Feb. 2, 1995: Duke's Jeff Capel hit one of the most amazing shots in rivalry history but after two overtimes, the second-ranked Heels escaped Durham with a 102-100 win.

• Feb. 28, 1998: Top-ranked Duke got a 77-75 win over the 3^rd-ranked Heels in Cameron for Krzyzewski's 500^th career win.

• Mar. 11, 2001: A 79-53 Duke romp in the ACC championship game at Atlanta marked the beginning of the end for Matt Doherty as UNC coach.

• Feb. 5, 2004: In the series first game after Roy Williams left Kansas, the top-ranked Devils won in overtime, 83-81, at the Smith Center.

• Feb. 7, 2006: J.J. Redick led an 87-83 Duke win in Chapel Hill with a stunning 35-point outburst. The senior guard scored 22 in the second half.

• Mar. 8, 2008: UNC scored the game's final 10 points for a 76-68 win. Danny Green's 18 points led the offense. Tyler Hansbrough added 16 points and 15 rebounds for the top-ranked Heels.

• Mar. 13, 2011: When they last met, the ACC championship was again on the line and the Devils made it look easy in Greensboro. Nolan Smith scored 20 points and dished out 10 assists to pace 75-58 win.

-- Caulton Tudor

At ACC midpoint, what Tar Heels have taught us

Halfway through the ACC schedule, No. 5 North Carolina is 7-1 in the conference. Of course, each half of the league schedule isn’t exactly symmetrical. The Tar Heels have yet to play Duke, for instance, and will play the Blue Devils twice among the final eight conference games. The first of those meetings comes Wednesday night at the Smith Center.

Still, the midway point provides a natural opportunity to evaluate where UNC stands as it prepares for the stretch run of the regular season before postseason play begins in about a month. That said, after eight conference games, here are eight things we’ve learned about the Heels to this point:

--This team has responded well to adversity. The first half of the conference schedule provided North Carolina with two major tests: One, how would UNC bounce back from that 33-point loss at Florida State. And, two, how would the Tar Heels compensate for the loss of Dexter Strickland, who suffered a season-ending knee injury at Virginia Tech on Jan. 19. UNC hasn’t lost since that defeat at FSU, and the Heels collectively have raised their level of play – especially on defense – to make up for the loss of Strickland.

--This is a better defensive team than people realize. There’s this perception that UNC is an average – or even below average – of defensive team. That perception, though, is wrong. In ACC games, the Heels are holding opponents to 40.5 percent shooting, which leads the ACC. The Tar Heels are also averaging 7.1 blocks per game in ACC games, which also leads the conference. UNC plays excellent defense, particularly inside the 3-point line (more on this momentarily).

--Reggie Bullock has adequately filled in for Dexter Strickland at shooting guard. No, Bullock isn’t the on-the-ball defender that Strickland is, and he can’t guard opposing point guards the way Strickland did. But Bullock has improved tremendously as a defensive player, and one could argue his help defense – and his disruption in passing lanes – has improved UNC’s team defense. Plus, Bullock’s ability to shoot from the outside has helped open up the offense for some of his teammates.

--Production off the bench is a concern. The loss of Strickland still hurts, however, because Bullock no longer is able to come off the bench. And that leaves the bench especially thin. Especially with P.J. Hairston struggling with his shot the way he has (6-for-33 from 3-point range in ACC games). James Michael McAdoo has become a more confident, productive player, but UNC still lacks a go-to guy off the bench.

UNC does seem to be becoming a more intense, energetic team. Intensity still comes in spurts for the Heels, who are still learning to play with intensity all the time – instead of just some of the time. But since that loss at Florida State, there has been a noticeable difference in the Tar Heels’ attitude. That’s not unexpected, given the difficult practices that coach Roy Williams led in the aftermath of what happened in Tallahassee, Fla.

-- The Heels aren’t as soft on the interior as critics believe. Yes, there are heavier, meaner frontcourts out there (see the one at Florida State, for instance), but UNC has done a lot to shed its soft label during the first half of the league schedule. The Tar Heels have mostly dominated on the interior, and Tyler Zeller has been as aggressive as any player in the ACC. At the halfway point of the conference schedule, Zeller is an obvious first-team All-ACC player, and he’s in the discussion for ACC Player of the Year.

--Teams that shoot well from the outside, and play good defense, can cause UNC problems. Of course, teams that shoot well from the outside and that defend would cause problems for a lot of teams. As good as UNC has been defensively, though, the Heels remain susceptible to good 3-point shooting teams. UNC’s 3-point percentage defense ranks 9th in the ACC, and opposing teams are shooting 34.7 percent from 3-point range.

Free-throw shooting is a liability. UNC is shooting 68.1 percent in conference games from the free-throw line, which ranks 10th in the ACC. Overall, the Heels are shooting 65.1 percent from the line, which ranks last among ACC teams. UNC is bound to find itself in close games, especially in March, and poor free-throw shooting won’t  do the Heels any favors.

-- Andrew Carter

Duke consistently talks about consistency

The watchword at Duke on Monday was "consistency," and no one -- not the players, not coach Mike Krzyzewski -- had an explanation why the Blue Devils have been so inconsistent this year. At least, they were consistent in that respect.

"I don't know, but we have to figure it out," Duke forward Mason Plumlee said, two days before Duke visits North Carolina in the first meeting between the teams.

"This is one of the most different teams I've had," Krzyzewski said. "Overall, they've done a good job, or we wouldn't be 19-4. But different guys have done well and we've done enough to win that many games. But I don't think anyone has had an exceptional year, or for the last month. Again, that doesn't mean they've been bad. That's not usually the case for our team. Usually, we have one or two guys who are all-ACC candidates."

There's no question Duke has players who are capable of playing at that level: Plumlee did it against Maryland. Andre Dawkins did it against Michigan State and Wake Forest. Austin Rivers did it against Miami. Seth Curry should probably do it more often, and Ryan Kelly presents significant matchup problems.

Yet none of them has said, "I'm the go-to guy. I want the ball in my hands right now," on a regular basis, although Rivers in recent days probably comes closest, and Krzyzewski said Plumlee has been Duke's most consistent player, particularly when it comes to rebounding.

"No question it's a different challenge," Krzyzewski said. "No question about that. Every coach would rather have two or three guys all the time, because then you can build better."

Perhaps the most baffling manifestation of Duke's inconsistency is at the defensive end, where defensive intensity has been a part of Duke's DNA for decades.

"It's something that we've shown flashes of being really good at," Kelly said. "I think it just comes down to being consistent, as individuals and as a team. We've improved in areas, and then not done as well in other areas. It has to be a true decision that we're going to be better defensively, and it has to be there every single day."

- Luke DeCock

Wolfpack faces must-win game vs. Georgia Tech

While many Triangle fans will spend most of this week immersed in the build up for the first UNC vs. Duke game of the basketball season, N.C. State is in more of a must-win situation.

At Georgia Tech on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPNU), the Wolfpack (17-7, 6-3 ACC) almost has to avenge a Jan. 11 82-71 loss to the Yellow Jackets (9-14, 2-7) in the RBC Center.

Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried on Monday didn’t even attempt to deny that landing an NCAA Tournament is on the minds of his players and the coaching staff. Two losses to Georgia Tech could be an NCAA resume buster. After the trip to Atlanta, the Pack will not  play again until Feb. 16 at Duke, followed two days later by a game against Florida State.

“You always (think about the NCAA),” the first-year Pack coach said. “Anyone tells you they don’t, they’re lying. But it can’t be our emphasis every day. There has to be emphasis on next opponent and how are we going to play in this one game.”

In the January game against the Yellow Jackets, N.C. State lost because of major failures to execute in four areas:

•A slow start left the team down 40-29 at halftime.

•Spotty perimeter defense opened the door for Glen Rice, Jr. to score 22 points in 34 minutes.

•N.C. State missed 14 of its 19 shots behind the 3-point arc.

•C.J. Leslie fouled out while Scott Wood and Rich Howell were called for four personals each.

“Georgia Tech obviously came into Raleigh and beat us, so we have our hands full,” Gottfried said. “I do think we’ve improved -- improved in a lot of areas. Hopefully, we’ll play better.”

Gottfried gave sophomore playmaker Lorenzo Brown much of the credit for leading Saturday’s 87-76 win over Wake Forest. Brown finished with 15 points, eight assists and four rebounds.

“Zo’s play was very encouraging,” Gottfried said. “He had a bounce in his step, which is what our team needed.”

-- Caulton Tudor

UNC's Harrison Barnes: Ankle is better, but ...

North Carolina coach Roy Williams said on Monday morning that he will likely hold Harrison Barnes out of most of the Tar Heels’ practice today to allow Barnes more time to rest after he re-injured his sprained left ankle during UNC’s 83-74 victory against Maryland on Saturday.

The Tar Heels host Duke at the Smith Center on Wednesday night.

Barnes said he felt about 60 percent healthy entering the Maryland game on Saturday, but he finished with 18 points and made two important shots during the second half. His 3-pointer from the left side gave UNC the lead for good with about nine minutes to play. Then Barnes made a jumper with about a minute to play that stretched the Heels’ lead to six.

Barnes said he experienced considerable pain during the game, and said it felt like he’d been shot in the ankle. Even so, he was in better shape following the victory at Maryland than he was after the Heels’ victory at Wake Forest last Tuesday, when Barnes originally suffered the ankle injury.

“He had less swelling and less pain after the [Maryland] game than he did after the Wake Forest game,” Williams said.

UNC didn’t practice on Sunday, so Williams hasn’t had a chance to see Barnes in action since Saturday.
“I’m going to probably hold him out quite a bit of practice today to give him to give him another [rest] day and we hope that will help him out,” Williams said.

Barnes said on Saturday that never thought about sitting out the game against Maryland because of his injury. With Duke coming to Chapel Hill, there’s little doubt that Barnes will play on Wednesday night. What his ankle feels like by then, though, is another question.


-- Andrew Carter

Krzyzewski: Attention to detail will be key vs. UNC

From the state of his current Duke team to the Blue Devils' rivalry with Maryland, Mike Krzyzewski touched on a couple of different topics on Monday’s ACC teleconference.

Here are some of the highlights of what he had to say.

On his team: “Overall, our team has done a good job, being 19-4. In our league, we’re two possessions from being undefeated and we’re two possessions from being 4-4, on the other side. These games, especially in conference, turn out to be attention to detail where you have to make a play. Yesterday’s game still boiled down to you have to hit a free throw. When you win a number of games, sometimes your attention to detail is not where it needs to be. The games where we’re involved in now it will be for the rest of the year.”

On the ACC’s new plan for basketball schedules: “I’m in full agreement with what the league is doing. I think it was a mistake that we made when we added three teams in that we didn’t brand the whole conference. We made up rivalries during that time by having two different partners. I think it showed that two teams were more important than the rest of the other conference. I think that hurt us. I think this way, we keep one traditional rivalry. But there has to be rivalry established with Syracuse and Pitt. I don’t think that was done as well. I think the way they’re going to do it is better for the entire conference. I applaud them for making that decision.”

On the fact Duke and Maryland will only play once: “Every team that plays against us has a rivalry. I respect the heck out of Maryland and Gary (Williams) and what he did there and what Mark (Turgeon) is trying to do in building his own program. But we can’t look at that game as the end-all. We have to look at every game in the conference equally because everyone looks at us that way. That’s the way I felt the entire time.”

On what he’s going to stress to his team about UNC: “The main thing is just to be prepared for playing the most talented team in our conference and maybe the most talented team in the country. … They can be an offensive juggernaut, especially at home. We have to play really good defense in order to have an opportunity to beat them.”

Krzyzewski will speak with the local media this afternoon, and we'll update the blog with what he has to say.

-- Jack Daly

Three Points from N.C. State's 87-76 win over Wake Forest on Saturday

1) Brown back on track

State guard Lorenzo Brown had 15 points with eight assists in a season-high 38 minutes on Saturday. He even gave a half-smile as he left the locker room after putting an end to his mini-slump.

"It was a little better," Brown said.

Brown, who is his own biggest critic, was pleased with his turnovers, only two -- a low in ACC play for him. He was more aggressive against the Deacs with 11 shots (making six) after only taking five against Boston College on Wednesday, despite an obvious mismatch with Jordan Daniels.

Wake's Tony Chennault wasn't much more of a defensive match for Brown, who did his scoring in the second half in late sets where coach Mark Gottfried went "one high, four low" and let Brown take his man off the dribble.

Brown's assist numbers are better, obviously, when Scott Wood (23 points) and C.J. Williams (18) are shooting well, but it's the way that he played on Saturday -- pushing tempo and directing State's offense -- that makes State the best possible version of itself.

2) Ninety-nine problems but a bench ain't one?

State got two points (forward DeShawn Painter), and five assists (guard Alex Johnson), off its bench on Saturday and it wasn't an issue.

That's because the starters all played so well. Painter played 13 minutes and Johnson played 14, which was enough to intermittently rest C.J. Leslie and C.J. Williams but Brown and Rich Howell (36) both played a season-high in minutes (which isn't a bad thing since State doesn't play again until Thursday and only twice in the next 11 days).

Gottfried says he's comfortable with his bench and both Painter and Johnson have at times given him reason to be, Saturday just wasn't the most productive game for either player.

Johnson, by the way, is in a horrific shooting slump, missing all 11 of his shots in the past three games. The five dimes, to one turnover, was good but State is going to need him to successfully get through its pending Duke-FSU-UNC stretch.

State's "easiest" path to the NCAA tournament at this point would be with a win at Duke (on Feb. 16) and a home win over FSU, which is two days later. State, by the way, hasn't won at Duke against Mike Krzyzewski since Feb. 6, 1988. (The Pack did beat Pete Gaudet's squad in Cameron on Jan. 18, 1995).

Despite of that fact, I still use "easier" to describe that path, because as long as John Henson's eligible, I don't see State beating UNC, even at home on Feb. 21.

3) The Tao of Bzdelik

That was the best I've seen the Deacs play under second-year coach Jeff Bzdelik. They quit in a 76-40 loss earlier this season to State and they were run out of the gym twice by State last season.

Wake had a chance to fold on Saturday, several actually, but to Bzdelik's credit, the players continued to compete for him in the face of certain defeat, which qualifies as progress.

I don't know half as much about basketball as Bzdelik, who worked in the NBA for 16 years as a coach and scout and has been a college head coach or assistant for another 16 years, but for the life of me I can't understand why he doesn't do more to get forward Travis McKie the ball.

McKie, sixth in the ACC in scoring, took nine shots on Saturday and made five, including all three of his 3-pointers. As much trouble as McKie was having guarding Scott Wood, Wood was having checking McKie.

But senior forward Nikita Mescheriakov, the definition of a role player, took eight shots and forward Ty Walker, a shot-blocker, took 10. I just don't get that math.

Bzdelik's logic after the game wasn't much better. His performance in the post-game was as confusing as his designated shots for Mescheriakov.

Dan Collins, the fine Wake beat writer for the Winston-Salem Journal, asked Bzdelik after the game about four different runs that State made during the game.

"You take away those runs and we outscored them by 19," Bzdelik said and he was stone-cold serious.

Why stop there? Take away State's 87 points and you beat them by 76! What kind of logic is that?

But that reasoning was Jeffersonian compared to his wrap-up quote about respect, which in his defense, was prompted by an inane question from a Winston-Salem TV reporter about his team's effort, compared to the 36-point loss to the Wolfpack earlier this season.

And here's Bzdelik's philosophy on respect:

"There's an old saying in the NBA. You give respect by showing no respect. You give respect by showing no respect. And you all can figure out what that phrase really means. But the last time we played N.C. State we did not respect them because we didn't play hard. We didn't compete. That's a heck of a statement for a coach to make, but that's the truth.

"I mean, it's just like I remember Michael Jordan saying one time that he's had some rookies play him where they didn't want to touch him. They just feared him. They didn't even guard him. And Michael said you're not even respecting me because you won't compete against me. But if you get somebody out there who's just battling and giving everything you've got - and still you come up short - you know what? Doesn't your opponent respect you?"

Yes? Maybe? I don't know, coach, but if you take away those runs, you definitely beat them by 19.

--J.P. Giglio