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Sporting News, The, March 15, 1999 by Mike DeCourcy

Here's everything you wanted to know about the field of 64, but were afraid to ask--including teams that are peaking, teams that are fading and a blueprint on how to topple the Blue Devils

The question of the moment should not be whether anyone can beat Duke. We have through this exercise so times, it's astonishing one would dare suggest the concept of invincibility in the NCAA Tournament.

But ... can anyone beat Duke?

To suggest the Blue Devils are unbeatable is to proclaim them more dominant than UNLV in 1991, a team that entered the NCAAs undefeated and was upset in the national semifinals by, umm, Duke.

Someone can beat Duke. That is not to say the Blue Devils will lose in the NCAAs; no one beat Duke in the 1991 or 1992 tournaments. If Duke doesn't win the title, then some team will need to be nearly perfect and find ways to ensure Duke is not. There are several areas a team must address to beat Duke:

Control Elton Brand. If Brand is allowed to dominate the lane, he will dominate the game. The five teams that finished within 10 points of Duke held Brand to an average of 13 points and 8.4 rebounds. To control Brand, a team needs someone who is strong and strong-willed, who is willing to take punishment and deliver it. Duke has not responded well to the most physical teams it has played.

"You must neutralize Elton Brand," says DePaul coach Pat Kennedy, whose team did not and lost by 32 points. "If you neutralize him, then you can extend your defense out and guard the perimeter."

Attack, Any team unwilling or unable to drive the ball toward the lane doesn't have much chance of winning. Wake Forest stayed in its first game against Duke without much penetration but ultimately couldn't score enough. The best weapon against Duke's emphasis on denying the wings is the backdoor cut, something most teams rarely employ.

Disarm perimeter screens. Give Trajan Langdon the slightest bit of room and he'll launch his jumper in an instant, and he'll make enough to cause pain. Michigan State trailed shooters to help identify screens but stayed close enough to avoid being picked off. Cincinnati used big men to hedge on picks--having the player step behind the screener and redirect the would-be shooter as he came around. It mostly worked, but on three occasions when the defender backed off to guard against a pick-and-roll, Langdon immediately buried a 3-pointer.

Get back. Duke is known as a defensive team but is still more dangerous with the ball--especially in fast-break situations. Point guard William Avery is improving his decision-making and there is no shortage of finishers: Shane Battier, Corey Maggette, Brand and Avery himself. "You've got to keep them out of transition," Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins says. "They're just so good in transition."

Don't play the jersey. A team that goes in to play D-U-K-E is already beaten. Defeating the Blue Devils requires confidence and concentration, both of which are diminished when a team concerns itself with Duke's status as the overwhelming favorite.

It's already tough enough because so many officials view Duke with such reverence. Brand gets far more leeway than players his size ordinarily do, and Battier's tumbles in the pursuit of charging fouls should make him the Oscar favorite for Best Actor over Nick Nolte and Tom Hanks.

Back from the dead?

These teams may be on a roll as they enter the NCAAs:

Tennessee. The Volunteers won their final six regular-season games, completing a sweep of Kentucky that secured an SEC East championship--which provided just the sort of pressure situation under which they might ordinarily wilt. (They did lose their only game in the SEC tourney). Seniors Rashard Lee and Brandon Wharton seem to have that healthy reluctance to end their careers, and Tony Harris has played the best basketball of his career

Indiana. If you didn't think they were dead, you were paying too much attention to the rankings and not enough attention to the Hoosiers, who built up a fancy record with a lot of home games against middling teams. But now? They finished 6-2 in their last eight league games, and although this isn't the best defensive team Indiana has had, the Hoosiers haven't surrendered like the four Indiana squads that preceded them.

Utah. The Utes' resurrection is further evidence of Rick Majerus' ability. For Utah to go from being the tentative, passive squad that stumbled through December to being the ruthless band of defenders that twice humiliated New Mexico is the most stunning transformation of the season.

Fading to the grave?

Here are some teams that are hoping to shake recent slumps:

Kansas. When the Jayhawks flirted with elimination from tournament consideration, they responded with huge wins over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. When they flirted with the possibility of earning a high seed, they collapsed against Iowa State. When Eric Chenowith plays well, the Jayhawks can be a handful, but no one can be certain which nights that will happen.

Wisconsin. The Badgers appeared to tire in late February, losing three straight while averaging 48 points in those games. Once universally feared by the high seeds, they're no longer quite as imposing.