The Duke floor slap: One of the many things opponents love to hate about the Blue Devils. They do it for an extra dash of grit while playing defense, and they went to the floor slapping during the Sweet 16 against Syracuse where they mostly played zone defense.
Duke players slapping the floor playing Duke’s zone defense is the most Duke thing they ever Duked
The Blue Devils’ brand was strong in the Sweet 16.
Opponents have thrown the floor slap back at the Blue Devils.
Michigan State did it in the 2015 Final Four. It didn’t work out so well, however.
Guard Denzel Valentine came around a screen from center Gavin Schilling to hit a 3-pointer from the top of the arc—his first of three triples in the opening four minutes—to draw first blood, he and point guard Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn II dropped down and slapped the floor with 19:04 remaining.
But the Spartans were not done there.
Valentine would lead Michigan State down in transition and nail his third triple with 16:09 left in the half. The boost from the first slap was in full effect, as the Spartans had now jumped out to a 14-6 lead. But then Brendan Dawson got in on the action. With 16:01 left, Dawson, guarding Justise Winslow, slapped the floor.
That is when things turned sour for the Spartans. From that point on, Duke went on a 30-11 run and Michigan State never brought the lead back down to single digits.
Syracuse would be wise to watch the slapping in the second half of their Sweet 16 matchup.
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