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Brownie Points: Duke’s style of basketball this season
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If you had a chance to watch Duke run over Michigan on Saturday, it’s easy to spot the difference in Blue Devils basketball this year.
The pace is much quicker. The 3-point shots are flying. The Cameron Crazies saw Mike Krzyzewski’s team hang 95 points on the Wolverines Saturday. The defense is … um, more relaxed.
Hmm, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
That’s what spending a couple of summers around Mike D’Antoni with Team USA will do to you. The Blue Devils hoisted up 27 3-pointers, hitting 11. They are playing a smaller team, running off made baskets and increasing their possessions per game by 10 or more.
If Steve Nash had any college eligibility remaining, Coach K would be at his doorstep.
“We talked a lot this summer and he said he was gong to open it up more,” D’Antoni said. “I told him, 'Be careful, they might kick you out of the Hall of Fame for that.’ You can’t go being a rebel now.”
The retention thing is a two-way street. D’Antoni said he’s also incorporated some things watching and learning from Krzyzewski — who learned at the knee of Bobby Knight, before he went totally loopy.
“It’s natural things are going to rub off,” D’Antoni said. “We spend so much time together … I watch how he addresses a team, how he sets up his defense, and I’ve tried to go with some of that.”
Don’t go looking to Coach K to start growing a mustache or conduct his pregame media sessions on the Duke bench. But it’s a start.
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