After Duke’s lackluster loss to West Virginia in the NCAA tournament, I could only think of one thing: where’s the enthusiasm from the coaches? Coach K is normally fairly calm on the sidelines, but can blow a gasket on purpose when needed to spark the team. That spark was sorely lacking. And it’s a disturbing trend over the last few seasons – just not enough emotion from the bench.
Credit to West Virginia for a game well-played, though Duke should have lost to Belmont (another uninspired performance). What almost happened against Belmont was what happened last year against VCU – throw a few very fast players on the court and watch Duke try to keep up. That’s simply from a lack of many fast players (one or two won’t beat four).
Plus, West Virginia highlighted the common Duke problems from the past few seasons:
- Live by the three, die by the three. When the shots aren’t falling, the points aren’t there, period.
- Lack of a solid big man and no depth in the post. Zoubek may not have been at 100%, but even if he was, that wouldn’t have been enough. That led to WV’s 2:1 rebounding edge. That’s embarrassing.
- Not having anyone who wants to take charge of the game. Everyone seemed very content to let someone else shoot. And then not follow a shot for a rebound, instead scattering like cockroaches away from the rim assuming that the shot would go in.
- Paulus’ inability or lack of authority to run the offense without having to get every play from the bench. His looking for instructions during the Belmont game led to an easy steal.
Now, let’s not confuse things. I really don’t have a problem with Duke losing a game or two (or more), as long as the effort is there from all facets of the game. A simple fact is that some games, the other guys may just be better or playing better that day or (sinfully) want to win more.
