Kyrie Irving's return gave Duke the matchups it needed against Michigan
CHARLOTTE -- Duke freshman Kyrie Irving missed 26 games with an injured right toe. If he would have missed Sunday, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said the Michigan basketball team would be in the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time since 1994.
Irving wasn’t Duke’s best player in its 73-71 win. He wasn’t even the Blue Devils’ best guard. Those accolades belong to senior Nolan Smith, who scored a game-high 24 points and at one point in the second half went on personal 10-0 run.
But Irving’s addition to the Duke rotation added more than his 11 points. It allowed Krzyzewski to play a four-guard lineup to help defend Michigan’s perimeter shooters.
“We wouldn’t be going forward if he didn’t play today,” Krzyzewski said. “That doesn’t take away from … anyone else, but you take one of those kids out of the equation and, you know, Michigan is going forward because they played winning basketball.”
Guard Kyrie Irving was 9-of-10 at the free-throw line against Michigan.
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Irving was 9-for-10 from the free-throw line and his one basket may have been Duke’s biggest.
After Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a 3-pointer to pull Michigan within 70-69 with 1:28 left to play, Irving answered with a pull-up jumper with 32 seconds remaining.
Irving has practiced with the team three times since returning and saw 20 minutes of action in Duke’s win over Hampton on Friday.
“If he plays the whole year, he might be the best player in college basketball,” Krzyzewski said. “The kid is that good. He’s that good."
Duke went with a small lineup much more frequently than usual against Michigan, playing only one of its three big post players - 6-foot-10 Mason Plumlee, 6-10 Miles Plumlee or 6-11 Ryan Kelly - instead of two.
While the Blue Devils’ size advantage helped them grab 10 offensive rebounds and score 16 second-chance points, it also allowed Michigan’s Zack Novak (4-of-9) and Evan Smotrycz (2-of-2) to get free at the 3-point line.
Irving gave Duke another guard to play alongside Smith, Andre Dawkins and Seth Curry to help negate those matchup problems.
“Thank goodness we had them because we did a good job,” Krzyzewski said. “(Michigan) did a really good job against us, but they would have done a better job against us if we were real big. They can slice you up.”
Rich Rezler covers sports for AnnArbor.com. Contact him at 734-623-2553 or richrezler@annarbor.com.
Comments
81wolverine
Mon, Mar 21, 2011 : 2:53 p.m.
Duke was definitely beatable yesterday. Although they had a huge size advantage in the paint, they only out-rebounded us by 9 or so. And Michigan got a lot of offensive rebounds. I think they DID get away with murder on a number of occasions when they hammered Michigan players and didn't get whistled. But, that's Duke for you. I was really, really proud of this team for not quitting when they got behind by 15. Most young teams would have folded under that kind of pressure. That's why I believe this team will achieve much greater things next year. Go Blue!
cwoody297
Mon, Mar 21, 2011 : 12:14 p.m.
You could have added any player that was about Irvings size and could dribble to the duke lineup in this game. All he did was go to the free throw line..missed all his FG attemps but 1. I feel the outcome would have been the same with him injured, now only if the refs would have been injured then maybe we would have won this game. Pointless article..save you ink for something that mattered in this game. Great season by these young kids especially after they started the big ten season in a hole. I love the heart and fight they play with and can't wait to see them next season! GO BLUE!!
semperveritas
Mon, Mar 21, 2011 : 12:06 p.m.
sounded like krzyzewski was trying to convince KYRIE IRVING to return for next season. "if he plays the whole year, he might be the best player in college basketball." wouldn't put it past him to use the press to convince the youngster of what COULD lie ahead in durham.
tater
Mon, Mar 21, 2011 : 11:04 a.m.
Matchups? The only "matchup" that really counted was the extra two "players" with the striped shirts Duke had for the entire game. I liked Jonathan Chait's column in which he wrote something like "it is impossible to analyze this game without acknowledging the effect the refs had." I thought that Michigan had no chance of beating Duke. It's a travesty that it took shoddy officiating to keep Michigan from doing just that. Duke has gotten away with "Duke Defense" for around twenty years. Meanwhile, all opponents, not just Michigan, get called for touch fouls at the other end. I know the NCAA loves to showcase Duke, but yesterday was an absurd way to do it.