Blue Devils and Raptors

In N.C.A.A. Basketball by Brock Bourgase

I like ball movement. I like player movement. I even like it more when the two coincide.

I like the Duke Blue Devils. I like the Toronto Raptors. So the twenty-four hour period that began at 21h00 on Saturday night contained both highs and lows.

There was one primary reason that Duke beat West Virginia in the National Semi-Finals: motion. Golden State beat Toronto Sunday afternoon for the same reason: motion. I like motion.

Kyle Singler spoke of facing a long and athletic defence and said that the key was to focus on where to move the ball, not the defence. This approach emphasizes initiative instead of fear. Action forces the defence to keep up. Inaction allows the defence to catch up and control angles. Duke consistently moved the ball to create open shots (granted, the Blue Devils displayed elite individual skill to convert a variety of opportunities). West Virginia was faster and longer but the Mountaineers were unable to close out in time so that they could assert their physical superiority.

Nolan Smith was able to get to the hole and kick to Jon Sheyer and Singler. Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas set crushing screens to free ballhandlers. The motion took the form of multiple times of movement and severely disrupted the Mountaineers’ defence, leading to offensive rebounds. Rather than force a contested shot after an offensive board, Thomas and Zoubek did not hesitate to move the ball to an open shooter. The Blue Devils – unlike what I had feared – had no trouble finding their shooting range in the Lucas Oil Stadium and drilled thirteen threes.

As usual, four Toronto players stood and watched Chris Bosh have a great game. Bosh did not have viable passing options because there was no player movement away from the ball. If the ball did not go through Bosh, the Raptors could not get a good shot. The plays were slow to develop and the secondary scorers settled for poor shots from the outside.

Golden State pushed most of the game and created open. Corey Magette was able to get to the hoop whenever he wanted. Magette would also drive and kick to Stephen Curry and other outside shooters. The Warriors’ offence was as dynamic as the Raptors’ sets were stagnant.

On the game’s final play, Golden State was out of timeouts and the five seconds allotted to inbound the basketball so Toronto gambled to steal the ball. The movement led to a questionable decision by Ronny Turiaf and Sonny Weems was able to steal the pass and tip it to Bosh, who unfortunately missed the game-winning lay-up. Had the Raptors started moving earlier, they would have not have been so desperate.

Mentally and physically, the defence can never keep up with constant motion. I like constant motion.