Poor defense driving recent Cameron woes

It’s no secret that Cameron Indoor Stadium has been losing its effect lately. Across the country, national broadcasts and publications have sought out why Crazies have all of the sudden stopped coming to games. Meanwhile, Duke has lost two of their past three home games to Florida State and Miami, two talented teams, but not the caliber of opponents that should be beating the Blue Devils on their home turf. Whether or not the fans support has hurt the team emotionally, I can assure you this: until the defense starts picking up, this is not a team that can reach the Final Four.

Where Duke is hurt the most is in the painted area. Guards are able to drive to the hoop, forwards are able to find position in the post, and just about everyone has been able to score. For this reason, I divided the court into three distinct areas: the left, the middle (extending outside of the lane), and the right sides. This past week against Virginia Tech and the Hurricanes, the Blue Devils gave up 72 points in the middle area, 52 percent of the total points allowed. Nearly half of those points were given up by Mason and Miles Plumlee, which is no surprise considering they play down low. However, the way in which these points were scored is what should bother Duke fans.

Down the stretch of the Miami game, Reggie Johnson repeatedly backed down Blue Devil defenders and was able to score on most of his attempts (11-for-17 on the day). Johnson is a force to be reckoned with due to his size and strength, but the lack of a defensive answer is scary. What do North Carolina, Ohio State and Kentucky have in common? Long and athletic big men. Both Mason and Miles have shown they can perform at a high enough level to compete, but Duke needs more consistency from the brothers.

Individually, plus/minus numbers should determine who is put into a starting position. This is why Tyler Thornton’s run in the lineup must come to an end. Not only did Thornton play the least amount of minutes Sunday of those who played in the game, he also was -13 in terms of points scored versus points allowed. The only player that did worse was Mason, who tallied a -16. Thornton may have had an off week, but it’s impossible to ignore the progress of Quinn Cook. Cook was +9, allowing only 3 points, none of which were in the paint. Cook’s offensive abilities, coupled with his defensive numbers, make him my favorite for starting point guard for the remainder of the season.

The defensive numbers for Andre Dawkins and Austin Rivers were the most surprising to me. Dawkins, rarely known as a defensive specialist, scored a +0 this week, scoring and allowing 8 points respectively. I have said in this column Dawkins may be the x-factor for this team, but as a sharpshooter coming off of the bench, not as a starter. Rivers also made a statement this week in a major way. Not only did the freshman lead the team in scoring (38), but also in plus/minus with +33 points. Perhaps the greatest number is that Rivers also finished +12 in the middle zone, the same area Duke has struggled with.

The most telling number of all is the one that is most obvious to the average fan: opponents shooting percentage. Once again, the Blue Devils were crushed, allowing a combined 43 percent shooting in their two contests this past week. While it’s clear where, and maybe even why, Duke is giving up such a high percentage, it doesn’t change the fact that three of their four losses may have been avoided if the defense played better. With the exception of Ohio State, the Blue Devils have yielded a 51 percent opponent shooting percentage in losses. Despite this, Duke still manages to stay in games, mostly due to the fact that in those same three losses, teams shot an average 68 percent from the free throw line. Even a small tweak of defensive intensity could have very easily been the difference in those games.

Now the Blue Devils will travel to Chapel Hill tonight, searching for a starting lineup and a defensive identity in what is one of the biggest games on the schedule. With ACC title hopes on the line, Duke can only hope to compete if they tighten things up on the defensive end. If the team doesn’t, Crazies may have a hard time watching games on their televisions as well.