Duke’s shaky defense was the elephant in the room all year. The Blue Devils’ man-to-man scheme was exposed early in the season, as true freshmen big man Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter struggled to defend high ball screens.
Kansas’ shooting finally broke Duke’s zone defense
The Jayhawks are going to the Final Four after busting Duke’s zone defense.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Duke was the most talented team in the country on paper, but its defense presented a potential fatal flaw. Mike Krzyzewski knew he had to make an adjustment. He decided to go zone.
Duke committed full-time to zone defense starting with its Feb. 11 win against Georgia Tech. Duke had lost two of three coming into that game, but suddenly reeled off five straight wins. It’s defensive efficiency soared into the top-10 of the country, using Carter to defend the backline and leveraging everyone else’s length and athleticism to close out on shooters.
Teams started shooting worse against Duke as soon as it went to zone, whether that was coincidence or not. The best way to beat a zone team is with quick passes to work the ball to open shooters.
Not many teams have the personnel to pull it off. Kansas did.
Kansas hit 13 threes against Duke
Bill Self team typically run a two-post offense. When you think of Kansas, you probably think of Perry Ellis getting to work on the block or in the high post.
This Kansas team does not play that way. Self starts four shooters around massive center Udoka Azubuike. Those shooters came to play in the Elite Eight, attempting 36 threes and making them at a 36 percent clip.
Kansas actually shot four points worse in this game than it did during the regular season, but the volume mattered. The Jayhawks also crashed the glass against a bigger Duke team, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds to 10 for Duke. Kansas won the overall rebounding battle 47-32.
Kansas’ ball movement was great all night, as well. The Jayhawks had 20 assists to Duke’s 13, getting Duke’s zone moving with side to side passing to open shooters. The ball is going to move faster than any players’ feet, no matter how highly touted they are as a recruit.
Kansas didn’t just beat the zone with shooting. It also used smart passing and screening to get buckets down low:
Kansas is going to the Final Four to face Villanova because it finally solved Duke’s zone. Duke’s defense was beatable all season even as its efficiency ranking sparkled.
It took a team like shooters like Kansas to finally bust it.
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