Game Commentary: Duhon conducts Duke to well-earned defensive victory

With six minutes to go in the first half, yesterday's victory over a superbly prepared and energized Florida State team was nearly over.

Or so I thought.

The No. 1 Blue Devils had poured in eight points in about 80 seconds to take a 30-17 advantage, and they'd done so in exciting fashion. The run began when Shavlik Randolph emphatically tossed an Al Thornton shot to the right baseline. FSU's Anthony Richardson picked up the loose ball, but Randolph promptly stole it and pushed it up the floor. 10 seconds later, a Daniel Ewing three caromed off the rim into the hands of Randolph, who whipped the ball to Duhon just outside the three-point line on the left side of the floor.

With a flick of both wrists, Duhon sent a no-look touch pass to his right into the hands of a wide-open J.J. Redick, who, of course, nailed the three. FSU came back down, missed a jumper that Randolph rebounded.

He sent his outlet pass to Duhon, who drove the length of the floor, penetrated into the paint and leapt into the air, but instead of shooting he fired a pass out to Redick on the right wing for another open three. And of course, it was good.

The Seminoles came back down, with the Crazies in a frenzy, and missed a layup and a jumper before Randolph swatted another shot that landed in the hands of Ewing. The Texas native hit Duhon streaking down the left side of the floor, and the Blue Devil captain finished it off with a layup.

Then, Duhon strode out to half court and got into his defensive stance to sound the death knell, pummeling the court with his hands once, twice, three times, with the Crazies' crescendo escalating with each staccato.

But Florida State is an excellent team, and the Seminoles' defense kept them in the ballgame. And little by little in the second half, they whittled away at the Blue Devils' lead. This wasn't because of something deficient in Duke's game plan. Rather, the Blue Devils struggled because they could not break down the Seminole defense, which was just as tenacious as Duke's.

So when the FSU closed it to 51-49 with around 50 ticks on the clock left, I thought that it was about time for Duke to get off an easy shot against the Seminoles. But as it turned out, FSU's defense broke itself down, and gave Chris Duhon a wide open look for a three-pointer. And, perhaps surprisingly, he nailed it.

"If someone had asked me, I'm not sure I would say he would take that shot that quick coming out of a timeout," FSU head coahc Leonard Hamilton said. "All the stats we had [on Duke] for the last five or six games probably would have backed me up. But that's what great players will do. Great coaches make great decisions. Great players make great plays."

"We always set up a few options," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said of the final play. "Again, because we didn't exactly execute what we wanted, Chris was open. He had guts. It was a great shot."

But Duhon wasn't done. FSU inbounded the ball and ran it across half court to call time out. After the break, Duhon set up the Blue Devil defense, ordering his teammates to communicate, motioning with his hands and yelling "We have to talk!" But that wasn't even necessary, as

Sean Dockery stepped infront of the inbounds pass, and after missing the front-end of a one-and-one, he stole yet another pass to wrap up yet another home victory for the Blue Devils.

Hamilton has taken FSU a long way in a short while. This was likely the first of many entertaining games in what should be quite a rivalry.