SPORTS

Story lines change before U of L-Duke

Jeff Greer
@jeffgreer_cj
Louisville's Terry Rozier takes a shot over Virginia Tech's Justin Bibbs.  Rosier had 16 points. 
Jan. 13, 2015

Saturday's Louisville-Duke clash at the KFC Yum! Center had plenty of juicy story lines before the season began.

It's the Blue Devils' first trip to Louisville since 1982, before they were Duke. It pit two preseason top-10 teams -- and two Hall of Fame coaches -- against each other. And it meant that the resident juggernaut of the Atlantic Coast Conference was coming to Louisville to take on the newest member of the ACC.

Once the the season started and Duke kept winning, the teams' much-anticipated meeting took on a potentially new meaning: It was on course to be Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's first chance at winning his 1,000th game as a college coach.

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But Duke's back-to-back losses in the past week have changed the pre-game conversation from all those story lines to a new one: What's wrong with the Blue Devils?

"I don't think we're confident right now," Krzyzewski told reporters after Duke's more recent loss, a 90-74 home rout at the hands of Miami.

When asked how his team can rediscover the confidence that led to 14 consecutive wins and 13 by double-digit margins, Krzyzewski said, "I don't know that answer right now ... We're going to try all we can to change that."

RELATED | What we learned from U of L's Virginia Tech win

A look at Duke's last two games, the Miami loss and an 87-75 loss to NC State, shows that Duke's perimeter defense is the main source of the Blue Devils' struggles, the opposite problem that Louisville's had during its up-and-down start to the season.

NC State guards Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner and Miami guards Angel Rodriguez, Sheldon McClellan and Manu Lecomte shredded Duke's defense, shooting a combined 51.7 percent from the field and a whopping 17 of 29 from 3-point range. The quintet only had 10 combined assists, but they also only turned the ball over five times.

"The main weakness is stopping dribble penetration," CBS hoops analyst and Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis wrote this week.

"The problem is more about positioning and poor rotations and help than it is ability. Duke's players are way too aggressive while pressuring the passing lanes. They take too many risks, which is allowing penetration, and the help has been way too late. And (freshman center Jahlil Okafor), like a lot of big men, struggles to defend the screen-and-roll far away from the basket. You can expect every team they play to exploit this until Okafor makes them pay."

Himmelsbach | Mangok Mathiang finds confidence in Virginia Tech win

So here comes Louisville (14-2) and its thriving guards, Chris Jones and Terry Rozier. The issue that hurt the Cards earlier this season -- shooting -- has seemingly been solved just in time for the matchup with the struggling Blue Devils.

The 5-foot-10 Jones had a basketball epiphany of sorts after U of L coach Rick Pitino benched him for most of the Cards' Long Beach State win on Dec. 30. In Louisville's four ACC games since, Jones has averaged 17.5 points, seven assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals. He's made 49 percent of his shots and 50 percent from 3.

"The bench has a way of forcing you to listen," Pitino said on Monday.

Rozier's run has lasted a little longer. In the past 10 games, the 6-foot-1 sophomore averaged 20.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.3 steals. His shooting percentage is back up to 46 percent after a rocky start to the campaign.

To counter Louisville's productive guards, Duke's going to have to rely on its offensive rebounding, which ranks 19th in the nation. UNC exposed some rebounding flaws in Louisville on Saturday, and the Blue Devils could again this coming weekend.

But they need to fix their own defensive issues first, and nobody knows that more than Krzyzewski.

Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).