March Madness Appetizer: Tricky Terrapins Upend Duke Blue Devils

For the Duke Blue Devils, walking into the Comcast Cole Center had to feel like walking into college basketball’s version of an ambush. Or a dojo full of crabcake eating ninjas, hurling three-quarter court traps and matchup zones like they were Chinese stars…or Greivis Vasquez runners.

Early in the game, Gary Williams played the role of Shaolin master, confusing the most intelligent collection of college basketball players this side of the Ivy League with three-quarter court token pressure which fell back into a matchup zone once said pressure was broken. The benefits were multiple and the Blue Devils were confounded.

The token pressure prevented Duke from getting into its motion offense quickly, which wasted valuable shot clock seconds. The Blue Devils would need all the time they could muster to solve the Maryland Terrapins defensive puzzle once the press was broken.

With this junk matchup defense, Gary Williams nunchuck-ed the Duke perimeter players by playing them in what appeared to be a garden variety man-to-man. After a pass or two, it was evident that this was anything but a traditional man defense. The Terrapin guards were indeed manning their counterparts, but the Maryland frontcourt was playing zone on their respective blocks, basically ignoring the Duke posts Zoubek and Thomas.

The junk defense allowed Maryland’s perimeter defenders to close out aggressively on shooters and trail Duke cutters knowing the threat of dribble penetration and curl cuts , staples of the Duke offense, were essentially taken away by post defenders camped out on the blocks.

Gary Williams defensive strategy was a veritable lotus blossom if you like creative defensive basketball and it allowed Maryland to jump out to an early double digit lead. A master in his own right, Coach K tried to counter by lifting his posts out of the lane setting screens to take advantage of the lack of help, but to no avail.

Ironically the Blue Devils got back into the ballgame not with tactics or patented shooting, but with brute strength. The Blue Devils pounded Maryland on the glass with 14 offensive rebounds led by Brian Zoubek who grabbed a game high of 17.

Their dominance on the boards enabled the Blue Devils to get back to where their bread is buttered which is on the perimeter. After a slow start, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer found their range with 20 and 19 points respectively, setting up a classic ACC nail-biter down the stretch.

The game turned with 40 seconds to play and Maryland nursing a two point lead.

Greivis Vasquez took the ball from the top of the key and willed his way, Bruce Lee style, into the lane. With the Blue Devil help defenders coming over to draw a charge, Vasquez attempted what can only be described as half floater, half runner, half prayer.

Yes, a shot like that is worthy of 150 percent.

Duke fans would call it 150 percent bullshit.

Game over, Maryland wins, and with it a share of the ACC championship. The loss likely drops Duke down to a two seed unless they run the table from here on out.

As they walked out of the jubilant Cole Center, Gary Williams and Greivis Vasquez had this exchange:

Master Williams: Quickly as you can, snatch the pebble from my hand.
[Young Vasquez grabs the pebble, eyes closed.]
Master Williams: It’s time for you to go.
Vasquez: Master, crabcakes and basketball, that’s what Maryland does.

This article originally appeared on March To March.

Follow Kevin Berger on Twitter: @MarchToMarch.