North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Duke
1/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2005
NC STATE (10-4, 0-1) vs. No. 5 DUKE (11-0, 1-0)
DATE: Thursday, January 13, 2005 @ RBC Center, Raleigh, NC (19,722)
TIME: Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. EST
RADIO: Wolfpack Radio Network
AIRTIME: 6:30 p.m. EST
TELEVISION: ESPN
OPPONENT-- This game features two teams dealing with physical issues but on different sides of the momentum curve. The Blue Devils are one of four remaining unbeaten teams and so far they have been able to work through the absence of 6-4 senior Reggie Love (broken foot) and 6-10 junior Shavlik Randolph (mononucleosis). Randolph will miss at least two more games while Love won't return for five more weeks.
The Wolfpack has been limited since December 28th due to a variety of injuries and illness that affected seven different players. The result has been three straight losses.
2004 ACC Player of the Year, Julius Hodge, competed through the pain of a sore ankle and back in Sunday's 67-66 loss at Miami. Junior guard Tony Bethel, who has been sick since December 28 (flu and colitis), did not play against the Hurricanes and failed to score in three previous games while playing limited minutes.
NC State coach Herb Sendek on Wednesday told reporters that Bethel is out indefinitely and has not been practicing. "Tony's illness has had a ripple effect on our team with some other guys being shifted around. We miss him on both ends of the floor," Sendek said.
Prior to his sickness Bethel was averaging 9.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2 steals a game. That's a lot of production to lose. When asked to speculate on Bethel's return, Sendek added, "I don't know. I don't expect it to be any day. It will take time--how much we don't know."
Even if Bethel were available, NC State would still be facing a huge challenge. Duke remains a formidable team with three outstanding players. Center Sheldon Williams is averaging a double-double and is the ACC's top rebounder and shot blocker while Daniel Ewing and J.J Redick make up one of the top guard tandems in college basketball.
Redick tops the ACC in scoring, free throw percentage (.940), minutes (35.6) and is tenth in three-point field goal percentage (.409). He is the only Duke player to score in double-figures in each game this season. Redick has averaged 22.4 points in his previous five games against NC State and he's the NCAA all-time leader in free throw percentage (.939).
Ewing leads Duke in assists and steals and is among the ACC leaders in both categories. He's is the Blue Devils No. 2 scorer and broke out of an offensive slump in last Saturday's 82-74 home victory over Temple with 24 points. In his previous two games, he shot only 7 of 24 from the field and totaled just 19 points.
Duke has not been a dominating team, but has played winning basketball thanks to its trademark defensive pressure on the perimeter and Williams rebounding and shot blocking inside. The Blue Devils have allowed opponents an average of only 57.8 points a game (No.1 ACC) and .373 shooting from the field (No.2 ACC).
For the season, Duke is averaging 10.2 steals a game and 8.6 blocked shots, better numbers than at this time a year ago when the Devils were dominating. Not known in recent years as a great rebounding team, Duke is holding almost a +7 rebound margin over opponents and has quality wins over Michigan State and Oklahoma.
Offensively, Duke averages nearly 81 points a game and shoots almost 47 percent from the field with many of those shots coming from long-range. The Blue Devils average 22 three-point field goal attempts a game and shoot 37 percent from beyond the arc. Redick may be the best long-range shooter in the nation while Ewing (.373), Sean Dockery (.455) and Lee Melchionni (.371) are also very good from the bonusphere.
The Devils can also make opponents pay for fouling. They get to the free throw line an average of 23 times a game and make 71 percent of their attempts (No. 2 ACC).
Last season, the teams split with Duke winning 76-57 in Durham and the Wolfpack upsetting the No. 1 ranked Blue Devils in Raleigh 78-74. Due to ACC expansion, this game will be the only meeting between Duke and State during the 2004-05 regular season.
A WIN--Would be the Wolfpack's second straight over Duke in the series, breaking a three-game overall losing streak. The Pack would even its ACC record at 1-1 and improve to 11-4 overall. NC State would win for the 9th time at home this season against one loss while stopping Duke's winning streak at 11 straight games. The victory would mark the Pack's first win against a ranked opponent this season and first since beating Wake Forest on March 6, 2004 at the Joel Coliseum.
A LOSS--Would be the fourth straight for the Wolfpack and second in-a-row in the ACC. It would mark the worst losing streak since the 2000 season when the Pack dropped seven straight. State would drop to 10-5 overall and 0-2 in the ACC --the first 0-2 ACC start for the Pack since 2001 when it lost its first three games. The Wolfpack would suffer its second straight loss at home, dropping to 8-2 at the RBC Center this season. Duke would improve to 12-0 and 2-0 in the ACC.
STOP 'EM --The Pack is No. 3 in the ACC in scoring defense, holding opponents to a very impressive 62.4 points a game while limiting the opposition to .414 shooting from the field and .344 from the three-point arc overall.
TURNOVERS DOWN --The Wolfpack is averaging only 12.4 turnovers per game including season-low 5 turnovers against Liberty University. The Pack is No.2 in the ACC in turnover margin (+4.86)
DIALING LONG DISTANCE --State leads the ACC in three-point field goals per game (8.21). Duke is third (8.09)
SHARING THE BALL --NC State is averaging an assist on an impressive 60% of its field goals (228-381). The Wolfpack leads the ACC in assist/ turnover ratio (1.32).
THE BETHEL FACTOR --NC State is a different team with a healthy Tony Bethel. Unfortunately, in the Pack's last four games, the redshirt junior has been has been limited physically (see above). During Bethel's illness the Pack is 1-3.
