Championship blue print: this isn't Mike Krzyzewski's deepest or most productive team, but Duke has the most title-worthy tools in the tournament

Sporting News, The, March 22, 2004 by Mike DeCourcy

We have come to Year 19. When this royal blue reign began, Lou Carnesecca, John Thompson and Dean Smith were coaching, David Robinson, Brad Daugherty and Danny Manning were playing without pay, and Luol Deng had just been born. The current Duke dynasty has not burned as brightly as the one created by UCLA under John Wooden, but it now has endured nearly twice as long.

In the past 18 years, Duke has accumulated 17 NCAA appearances, nine Final Fours, seven No. 1 seeds, three national championships and 59 tournament victories. The Blue Devils' perseverance has earned them a national audience, but also a legion of detractors weary of their extended stay on stage. And Duke will continue to enchant and aggravate those who watch them in this tournament, as the Devils prepare to claim their fourth NCAA title under Mike Krzyzewski.

They will win because in this most peculiar season, they remain the team with the most--and most potent--offensive and defensive assets: wings J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing make just under five 3-pointers per game; center Shelden Williams overpowers single coverage and averages 3.1 blocks; point guard Chris Duhon is in complete command at both ends of the floor; Deng, a 6-8 freshman forward, is the most gifted prospect in the college game.

This is not Duke's deepest team, with the rotation down to seven players and occasional cameos from senior big man Nick Horvath. This is not Duke's most productive offensive machine, but there are five double-figure scorers. This is not Duke's best defensive team--but it is close. Only the great 1999 team, which lost to Connecticut in the championship game, played better field-goal percentage defense, and only one Krzyzewski team has yielded fewer points. This is not Duke's most precise team, but it has been mostly synchronized. "If there are five radios playing," says Davidson coach Bob McKillop, "they're all playing the same station"

However, there are several obstacles between Duke and a championship, and not just those named Saint Joseph's, Stanford, Kentucky and Oklahoma State.

The 'foul' line. Williams' long arms and massive strength make him a terrifying interior defender, but he's of little concern sitting on the bench. Williams averaged 25.5 minutes and four fouls in Duke's four losses against ACC opponents. He had at least three fouls in nine of Duke's last 10 games.

Sophomore Shavlik Randolph is a capable reserve, but he isn't as comfortable playing in place of Williams as when the two work together. In those four ACC losses, playing mostly as the sole big man, Randolph averaged 2.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 14.8 minutes.

The 3-point line. Duke generates 27.0 percent of its points on long-range shots. Among top 10 teams, only Saint Joseph's gets a larger chunk of its offense from 3s. Duke's 2001 championship team shot even more 3-pointers. The difference is that squad had five players who made at least 40; a significant majority of this team's deep shots come from Ewing and Redick.

If those two are sufficiently defended or just plain off in a given game, Duke could find itself in jeopardy.

The finish line, The most obvious difference between games Duke wins and games it loses is Deng's ability to finish plays. Few frontcourt defenders are quick enough to cut off Deng's drives, but that is of little significance if he doesn't drop the ball in the goal. When opposing defenses extend to challenge Redick and Ewing on the perimeter, they are vulnerable to Deng attacking the basket. There are times, though, when he leaves a lot of those balls on the rim. In the Devils' five defeats, he shot 33.8 percent from the floor. In victories, he shot 49.2 percent.

The NCAA has staged two Final Fours since the last time Duke was involved. Hard as it may be to believe, that's the second-longest absence since the Krzyzewski era truly arrived with Duke's appearance in the 1986 championship game. The "drought" will end later this month, and a title will follow. And then the Blue Devils will prepare to extend their royal blue reign to a 20th season. It may end at some point, but it's hard to see that day coming soon.

We're all undefeated now

For 1,040 minutes, Stanford remained perfect. The Cardinal only needed another 40 to finish the job. "It would have been nice to win all your games, just because there it was," says Stanford coach Mike Montgomery. "I don't know when you're ever going to get in a situation like that again."

Stanford fumbled its chance to enter the Pac-10 Tournament undefeated when it lost by 13 at Washington on the first Saturday in March. Saint Joseph's was able to claim an undefeated regular season, but the Hawks were crushed by Xavier in the Atlantic 10 Tournament quarterfinals.

Both Stanford and St. Joe's, however, might have reanimated their potential to claim the 2004 NCAA title. Only seven teams in the tournament's history have finished as unbeaten champions. That's out of 17 teams that entered the field with perfect records. Only one team--UNLV in 1991--has carried an undefeated season as far as the Final Four since the explosion of media interest that developed two decades ago. That squad lost to Duke in the national semifinals.