After he scored 20 points in a half at Madison Square Garden Nov. 20, Gerald Henderson told me he doesn't care for NBA rims. It was something of a surprise, given his performance that night. Looks like Henderson isn't struggling so much in NBA arenas anymore, not after his 19-point outburst Saturday.
"We're getting a little more comfortable with them," he said with a smile. "We're used to Cameron. Cameron's got pretty soft rims."
Henderson shot 7-of-13 from the floor and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, but he pointed to Jon Scheyer's 9-of-11 shooting night as an example of soft touch. Then he admitted that he found the rims agreeable, too.
"Some days, it just be like that. That's what I say to my friends all the time-it just be like that," Henderson said.
Xavier head coach Sean Miller noted that when Scheyer and Henderson play well, the Blue Devils are on a different level from most teams. And if Henderson starts to like NBA rims more, that would also bode well for Duke. After all, most NCAA Tournament games are played in professional arenas.
Shock statistics
If you missed the first 10 minutes of the game, you might be wondering how Duke raced out to such a huge lead. These numbers from the first half answer any questions:
- Assists: Duke 13, Xavier 2
- Rebounds: Duke 20, Xavier 15
- Steals: Duke 6, Xavier 2
- Blocks: Duke 5, Xavier 0
- Shooting Percentage: Duke 61.8, Xavier 33.3
- 3-point Shooting Percentage: Duke 53.3, Xavier 0.0
- Free-throw Shooting Percentage: Duke 71.4, Xavier 50.0
- Points in the Paint: Duke 24, Xavier 14
- Points off Turnovers: Duke 16, Xavier 2
Where were they?
It's a fair guess that some of the 14,818 people in Izod Center Saturday were also in attendance for Duke's last game in what was then known as Continental Airlines Arena in December 2005 against Texas in a matchup between the top two teams in the country. J.J. Redick went off for 41 points as Duke romped, and even Mike Krzyzewski said today that it was one of the greatest games in program history. So where were some of this year's Blue Devils on that day?
Greg Paulus was in the building as the team's starting point guard. When asked, the first thing he mentioned was Redick's virtuoso performance. It was hard to forget.
Henderson and Brian Zoubek both had high school games that day, so the two seniors couldn't make the trek to Northern New Jersey. Henderson is from the suburbs of Philadelphia and Zoubek is from South Jersey, giving them manageable commutes to watch their future teammates.
Henderson said that he walked out of his game and immediately asked the score of the battle of the titans that day, adding that he was surprised to hear of Redick's scoring surge.
Future Blue Devils might have had the same reaction when they saw Saturday's final.
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