Our Defense

[Buzzooka Joe]

Great win last night! It put some years on me, but so entertaining and a classic.

But something that has been bugging me (and probably most of you) for several weeks, is our defense.. I’m genuinely curious how a team that was SO GOOD defensively early in the season has so much trouble defending now? How does that happen? Tre and Goldwire were lock-down defenders early in the season and last season.. how/why did that change? I can understand how teams can figure out how to slow down a great offense over time, but not how they can figure out how to beat a great man to man defense.

And what do our boys need to do to fix this and go back to how they were?

If our defense can get back to where it was early in the season, then we have a good shot at the National Championship.. if the defense stays like it is or gets worse, then we will continue to have nail biters with mid/low level ACC teams..

 

[Smythe13]

I think Wendell is the key to the issue. He allows for more flexibility in switching since he can guard 1-4 and even 5 after last night on Brooks. He was starting to play well before he broke his finger. Hopefully last night's win will get them back on track.

 

[Buzzooka Joe]

I think Wendell is the key to the issue. He allows for more flexibility in switching since he can guard 1-4 and even 5 after last night on Brooks. He was starting to play well before he broke his finger. Hopefully last night's win will get them back on track.

I agree Wendell isa huge part of the defense. But it doesnt explain the issues Tre & Goldwire have had. Tre was often talked about as being the best on-ball defender in the country, and now you rarely hear/see that. And in almost every game thread the last several weeks, I’ve saw posters asking if Tre is hurt/sick.

 

[DukeDenver]

I don’t see our struggles resulting from the guards per se. Our full-court press is pretty awesome. I think the problem is more with the bigs. Vernon and Jav are not switching very well and I think other teams figured that out. Baker and Jack White are very easy to drive on as well. Teams have just scouted us better.

 

[Smythe13]

I hope they turn things around. Last year the team never was able to get back to where they were before Zion's injury. I am not comparing Wendell to Zion, but I think he is a key component with his Swiss Army Knife skill set.

 

[lyonhawk]

The issue is absolutely our bigs. They aren’t playing the pick and roll well on the perimeter, they are suddenly in love with taking charges against guards instead of contesting shots, and they’re giving up too many offensive rebounds.

 

[jwill133]

I’m a bit worried about our defense. Unless we’re forcing 18+ turnovers a game, I don’t think we’re elite on that end. And we’re not gonna force a ton of turnovers for 6 straight games. I love Tre and Goldwire defensively, and I love our press, the problem with playing Goldwire is it makes it harder for us to score.

Wendell can be a key cog defensively, he needs to become our Justise Winslow. He’s starting to take all of Hurt’s minutes and it’s because of his defense and energy.

 

[AlanInNJ]

I think we will adapt and improve, but at this point in the year I think we've been scouted pretty well. Teams see where we have struggled, and they are exploiting those weaknesses. Spread us out, back cut until there's an open layup.

I trust K will adapt and adjust. Honestly it's the slow starts that have been more of a concern for me recently. Going down 10+ points in the first ten minutes will come back to bite us eventually.

 

[lyonhawk]

Wendell can be a key cog defensively, he needs to become our Justise Winslow. He’s starting to take all of Hurt’s minutes and it’s because of his defense and energy.

Hurt also picked up 4 fouls in 7 minutes last night.

 

[Smythe13]

He also had several key plays in OT with rebounds, a free throw, and the game winner. He and Tre did all the scoring the last 22-23 points.

 

[crazyduke3]

I’ve been pretty concerned about. It has not looked as good as it did earlier. In particular, jack and Javin are large disappointments at that end. I expect much better.
Vernon also is struggling.

we’ve got to get it together.

 

[Quavarius]

Our defense is 11th best in the country per KenPom. So we are still an elite defense, not in the way of scoring defense, but per 100 possessions. Yes we gave up 80+ to Syracuse and UNC but Syracuse starting fouling to extend the game and UNC we went into overtime. Also, in a rivalry game, they played out of their minds, which they had to or else it would have been a blow out.

So, I’m not alarmed at our defense. What I do hate is when we miss shots early on, we let it affect our defense. We can’t keep playing with fire. Love that K is going to the zone and the quarter court press to energize our D.

 

[Mac9192]

Q hit on it. I think we may have to occasionally throw a wrinkle defensively at the other team. We don’t defend the ball screen well, and Tre gambles a lot. Sometimes it works. Our bigger issue, to me, is the guys that are better defensively are very bad offensively, and the guys that can score are bad defensively. So there’s pressure put on the team at all times, depending on who’s in the game. Alex is the prime example. He’s our 2nd best athlete, but loses his man all the time. Matthew is struggling real bad on both sides of the ball. Too soft and slow. Jack can’t create his own shot, but he hustles and rebounds well. Goldwire is great, but I think he should be a 10-15 minute guy.
On offense, our ball movement has gone stale. That has to be what offsets our lack of a take over guy. I hate to say this, but when Alex and Joey are in the game, I don’t think we look for them like we should. Alex is really good at feeding the post as well.

 

[HuffyJB]

I am trying to not be too reactionary. As Bilas and Shulman both pointed out multiple times last night, UNC was putting together a performance that they hadn't matched all year. They did a crazy amount of damage from that 14-18 foot range, which pretty much all advanced metrics characterize as the worst shot in basketball. But I do think Duke is capable of more defensively.

 

[chov1125]

We can not defend a basic ball screen. Teams are screening more and more against us because it is a major weakness. We don’t hedge correctly, we don’t double correctly, we get lost in space and it resulted in countless wide open jumpers from the elbow last night. DI college hoopers are going to make those shots with ease.

I would say Javin and Vern are the two biggest culprits but no one is flawless, that’s for sure.

Young teams move slower when they are confused. We are moving slow right now.

 

[jwill133]

Last nights game really helped our defense. Were back to ken-pom #10.

Wendell is the key, his versatility IMO allows us to match up multiple styles. FSU tried to go small, K played Wendell at the 4, and FSU had no advantage.

 

[Quavarius]

K also countered with taking Vern out and replacing him with Javin for offense and defense.

Wonder if we see that more going forward

 

[dachampishere2]

The defense is no different from early in the year honestly. Our weaknesses are our weaknesses. We just have to figure a way to counter how teams attack us. Ball screen defense was a problem since game 1. We are a pressure team on the perimeter so people are just spreading us out. It’s hard to stop another D1 athlete one on one in open floor like that. In these recent games it has actually been our offense starting off slow. It takes us a little time to figure out how people are playing Vernon. I think Tre is conserving energy on defense though. I haven’t really seen Tre get all up in somebody besides Kansas, MSU, and second half against Cole Anthony

 

[crazyduke3]

Vernon is so bad on defense but Javin is so bad on offense. What to do? I think you try and get Vern as far along as you can on defense.

 

[lyonhawk]

Vernon is so bad on defense but Javin is so bad on offense. What to do? I think you try and get Vern as far along as you can on defense.

We have a lot of guys in that boat right now. Tre and Cassius are the only two reliable on both ends right now. Wendell, Goldwire, and Vernon aren’t too far off. Everyone else is only good on one end at the moment.