This summer’s conference realignment brought exciting changes to college basketball, but it may also have caused a small change in the Blue Devils’ playbook.
Duke’s call for a rare switch to a 2-3 zone used to be “Orange”—an homage, perhaps, to Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim’s celebrated zone scheme. As graduate student Andre Dawkins learned in his return to the team this summer after a year away from basketball, times have changed.
“Actually, when we first started putting in our zone defense I was calling it 'Orange,'” Dawkins said. “They told me it’s called 12 this year.”
But why the change?
“I don’t know,” Dawkins said wryly. “That was an executive decision.”
Syracuse is no longer a distant, snowy university with a basketball program known for its pesky zone. The No. 2 Orange sport an undefeated record and have leapt right to the top of the ACC standings in their first year as a member of the conference. No. 17 Duke seems to have rebounded well from its struggles early in ACC play, but the Blue Devils will face their toughest challenge yet when they battle the Orange at the Carrier Dome Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Syracuse students have been camping out for nearly two weeks in anticipation of the contest, but head coach Mike Krzyzewski says the Blue Devils will embrace what is sure to be a raucous road environment.
“I think they’re going to have their largest crowd ever,” Krzyzewski said. “We welcome all the attention that’s given to us. It’s much better to have attention than not have attention.... Hopefully the game will measure up to the buildup.”
But the Blue Devils (17-4, 6-2) seem to have grown together since that stinging upset. Duke has rolled off five consecutive conference wins and, though the team's offensive firepower has been impressive, redshirt sophomore captain Rodney Hood says the Blue Devils' growth on the defensive end and on the glass have been vital to the team’s success.
“We’ve played some of the best defensive ball of the season,” Hood said. “I think it’s because we’re rebounding the ball. Throughout the season, people were saying that’s the weakness, and it was. We’re turning it into a strength…. If we keep the rebounding margin close, I think we have a chance to win.”
The Blue Devils will certainly have their hands full on the defensive end of the floor. Four Syracuse players boast double-digit scoring averages, and 6-foot-8 senior C.J. Fair can score 20 points on any given night.
Offensively, Duke will look to move the Orange zone and then penetrate with crisp passes and economic dribbling. Sophomore forward Amile Jefferson has played an increased role in the Blue Devil offense when the team faces a zone scheme, using his position in the middle of the zone to find open shooters on the perimeter.
“The way to beat the zone is to get the ball in the middle, and that’s something we’ve been working on,” Jefferson said. “If you’re not moving the ball, making pass fakes, making the zone move, then they’re just sitting there being long and taking up the whole court.”
It’s never easy traveling to take on the nation’s No. 2 team in a hostile environment, but the Blue Devils are looking forward to Saturday’s challenge.
“It’s exciting,” Dawkins said. “As fun as it is to be here and to play in front of our fans, it’s just as fun to go and play in someone else’s gym where everyone else in there hates you and wants you to do poorly, so it’s definitely exciting. It doesn’t get old for us."
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