Duke Brings Phoenix Suns Basketball to College and May Turn it Into a Championship

You want to see how the NBA's Phoenix Suns run their offense? Just watch the Duke Blue Devils. They do it pretty darn well. A team filled with a bunch of 6-6 guys who all can dribble, drive, pass and shoot may be the best team in college basketball.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski doubles as the USA Basketball head coach where he works alongside the Suns' coach Mike D'Antoni. Coach K came away from that experience with an idea of how to incorporate what the Suns do to the college game ... where three pointers are shorter and zones are more prevalent.

Does it work? Watch Duke's spanking of North Carolina last night. The Blue Devils spread the Tar Heels out used movement and high screens to create mismatches and ended up with any shot they wanted. It also negated the Tar Heels' biggest advantage -- their size. UNC had to go smaller and ended up so spaced out that they weren't in good rebounding position.

What amazes me is that fact that Coach K has done this at all. This is a man who has had as much success as any coach could want, yet flips it all and tries something new. It has paid off very, very quickly. This Duke team had the ACC's worst offense last year; now they rank 3rd in the nation. Duke has five guys averaging between 10 and 15 points per game ... with four guys averaging between four and six rebounds.

Last year, this team struggled to create any kind of shot on their own. This year, they are so tough to stop.

Of course, the big test will come in March during the NCAA tournament. While the NBA's Phoenix Suns have been so successful during the regular season, they don't have any championships nor a trip to the Finals to show for it. The playoffs slow down with defense and an inside game becoming the style. In a slow down game, it hasn't worked that well for Phoenix.

This idea doesn't hold up as much in college hoops. The NCAA tournament comes down to guard play and Duke has about six pretty darn good guys who can fit that spot. As we saw against the Tar Heels, they can give up 28 points to a guy like Tyler Hansbrough and still win handily. Not to mention that it will be extremely tough for a coach to prepare his team for an offense that they have yet to see.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-07-2008 @ 4:09PM

soy un perdedor said...

the "t" in "baskeball" is such a good ninja that you can't even see it.

2-07-2008 @ 4:13PM

P.S. that game was terrible, looked like a high school game with crappy teams.

2-07-2008 @ 4:21PM

JW Stringer said...

Now lets see Coach K admit he was open to suggestions and ideas from others, and actually adjusted his style to a style that worked so well for someone else.

max.ornstein said...

Let me preface this by saying that I'm an avowed Duke hater, but for the most part I really can't stand any team that Dickie V rides for, including UNC...including most of the ACC aside from Wake and GT, actually...

UNC lost last night because they didn't have their starting point guard. Sure, Mike Krkrkrkskski had a great game plan, but it was secondary to Lawson's absence, in my opinion.

Greg Paulus is still about as shaky as a point guard on a top ranked team can possibly be (look at the turnover and almost turnover he had in the final minute--a teammate bailed out a bad pass-- that could have let UNC back in the game). He would have gotten eaten up by Lawson, instead he tore up a point guard who is inferior defensively.

It was on the road, and that counts for something, so maybe I'm wrong, it was in chapel hill, maybe Paulus is going to pull an Eli Manning this year (which is to say go from Shaky with a capital S-H-A-K-Y to unfathomably clutch), but I don't think so.