Duke will go for its 19th victory of the season today, and coach Mike Krzyzewski has more on his mind than a chance to regain a share of first place in the ACC.
Krzyzewski would like to see the Blue Devils play the kind of smothering defense that has exemplified his teams when they face Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. in Blacksburg.
Krzyzewski acknowledged that Duke (18-3, 5-1 ACC) generally has played well in reaching this point. But he admitted that the defense has not been not up to Duke standards.
"It's a different team than we've had, and we've known that since China and Dubai," Krzyzewski said, referring to the summer trip the Blue Devils took for exhibition games. "We're not going to be this juggernaut defensively, but we have to keep striving to get better."
Krzyzewski was upset last Saturday when St. John's cut a 22-point lead to four in the final 20 seconds of a Duke victory in Durham. Krzyzewski's critique was at least the second time he has cited his team for unacceptable play this season.
The St. John's game fit the pattern that is upsetting him. Duke's defense slacked off after the team built a big lead.
A loss of focus and tactical issues can cause the problem, Krzyzewski said, and either can start the breakdown.
"Overall we have had to play pretty good defense in order to have the record we have against the competition we have," he said. "Some of our worst defense has been (after building) leads.
"In order to get the lead, you have to play good defense. What we're striving for is consistency. I don't want to be down by 10 very much. Basically we've been doing that with the lead or at the start of a game."
Krzyzewski doesn't see an all-around player who is a defensive stopper on his team. In the past, Duke had such players as Billy King, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler, who would spark the defense by guarding the opponent's most dangerous scorer.
Duke's best defensive player in Krzyzewski's judgment is Tyler Thornton, a sophomore point guard who starts sometimes. Thornton is the team's best communicator on the court and gets his teammates where they are supposed to be.
"We're not inherently a defensive team," Krzyzewski said. "The mentality of these kids is that they're more offensive players. But they've shown that they can play really good defense. We just have to get it going for longer periods of time."
The Blue Devils are allowing 69.1 points a game, which ranked 11th in the ACC entering Wednesday's games.
Virginia Tech (12-9, 1-5) has given Duke trouble in the past. The Hokies have beaten the Blue Devils three times since joining the ACC in 2004. Two of the victories have come in Blacksburg, although Duke has won three of the last four games there.
Coach Seth Greenberg of Virginia Tech said his teams usually are highly motivated when playing Duke, which has sparked intense efforts.
"We have a philosophy on how to play them," Greenberg said. "It's tough to go out and execute it. You've got to match their intensity. They're going to draw a line in the sand and compete each and every play.
"That doesn't mean get in a fight, but you've got to be ready for the physicality of the game, you've got to be ready for the intensity of the game, and you've got to play through mistakes."
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