Game Review: Duke vs Penn

As I noted in my first post, I wanted to see Duke play Penn before I made an initial evaluation. For those who may have forgotten, Penn wound up being Duke's best victory last year in a season where Duke was close but no cigar against good teams. In that game, Duke trailed by seven late in the game before force of nature Azura' Stevens took over and rescued the Devils. The loss of Stevens is hard to put into words for Duke, as she had the potential to be one of Duke's best players ever, given her skill set and aggressiveness. Losing an offensive force and competitor like Angela Salvadores also hurt, and it's painful to think how good Duke could have been if they were here along the rest of the talent of the team.

That said, this Duke team immediately showed a lot of potential in the Blue-White game. They are healthy, for starters. They are in far better shape as a team now than they have been in recent years. I attribute that to the new coaching hires over the summer, including a strength & conditioning specialist hired for the women as well as a physical therapist. Role players like Erin Mathias looked more fluid and confident, while the now-sophomores all looked improved. Having the experience and leadership of Lexie Brown, despite a bit of rust, is obviously making a big difference, and the return of Kendall Cooper certainly helps the frontcourt. Playing against Charleston and Liberty revealed that when Duke is playing against small opponents who can't counter with much speed, Duke will pound them inside. Penn would be a different challenge.

Returning every player of note from last year's Ivy League champions, the Quakers were looking to make a statement behind their excellent front court of 6-3 Sydney (niece of Steve) Stipanovich and 6-3 Michelle Nwokedi. Stipanovich is a classic finesse college center: good range out to about 15', solid positional rebounder and shotblocker, and somewhat stiff under the basket. She's a very effective college player who has likely reached her ceiling in terms of ability. On the other hand, Nwokedi clearly has a future in the W, thanks to her slowly getting stronger and extending the range on her shot. That range makes her nasty head fake effective, and her long & quick first step means that if an opponent bites on that fake, Nwokedi is going right to the hoop. What was more impressive was Nwokedi's feet in the post; her agility is what allowed her to go up against players who were as big as she was and find ways to score. Her dropstep is baffling, and the considerable width of her shoulders allows her to open up spaces just a crack so she can slip through. Duke opted not to double-team her, which was probably a wise decision considering how many shooters the Quakers have. Duke conceded the three for the most part, and Nwokedi was 3-6 from distance to help keep Penn in the game.

The Duke starting lineup with senior Oderah Chidom, junior Erin Mathias, redshirt junior Rebecca Greenwell, redshirt junior Lexie Brown and sophomore Kyra Lambert. Statistically speaking, this was Duke's second-best lineup on the floor (more on that later), and that's thanks in large part to the touch and awareness that Mathias demonstrated. When Mathias was in the high post, she was able to exploit the hole in Penn's shifting 2-3 zone and hit cutters going to the hoop. She was open for some shots of her own, but she didn't look as comfortable shooting here as she did playing with a big lead. In the first couple of minutes of the game, Lambert hit a three, stole the inbounds pass, scored and got fouled. Duke was up 6-0 in ten seconds. After that, treys from Brown and Greenwell helped push the lead to 13-0 against a stunned Penn team. The Quakers prefer a slow-paced, half-court game, but they were forced to use a 2-2-1 press for much of the game. The press was there more to annoy and slow Duke down than to generate turnovers, but the Devils were well-prepared for the press, using Mathias as a press breaker in the middle and then handing off to one of three guards who could really handle the ball.

Penn was able to cut into the lead a few times, but timely Duke baskets (including a trio of treys that pushed the lead to 19) halted their progress each time. Duke was frustrated trying to set up their superiority in the post in terms of scoring, as Penn was able to block shots at the rim or else force awkward push shots. Chidom and Mathias countered by working like crazy on the boards (with 14 and 5, respectively), but Duke had only 32 points in the paint. Penn used a weird 2-3 zone hybrid with a lot of man principles, and Duke had trouble dealing with it straight up. When the Devils moved the ball and cut to the hoop with passes from the wing or high post, they were able to solve that overplay a little.

For the most part, Duke looked composed and confident in a way they didn't last year. They played to win instead of trying to simply avoid losing. As I noted earlier, Brown was a big part of that, but the players seemed to be playing off of each other nicely in general. Things simply looked more cohesive, and I attribute a lot of that to the upperclass leadership in general.

The most interesting Duke lineup in this game, and the most successful at +11, was the "speed kills" grouping of Chidom, frosh Leaonna Odom, Greenwell, Lambert and Brown. This is a high-octane, space-and-pace group that can run with anyone in the country and surrounds a very good defender in Chidom with four shooters who can also attack the basket.

A few player comments:

Chidom: She's the same player as always: quick, aggressive and sometimes prone to careless errors. When she's dialed in like she was in this game, she's a rebounding machine who can defend. Some of her cuts to the basket were simply gorgeous, and she even uncorked a nice mid-range baseline jumper.

Mathias: Anyone who's watched her play before will be shocked at how solid she looks. Defense, rebounding, passing and screening...all that good glue stuff is there. She's still stiff as a scorer and her high center of gravity means she's not so great at posting up, but if she can hone that mid-range jumper, she will play her role perfectly.

Greenwell: Becca's in great shape and is looking to dominate. She definitely has the size to play on the wing, and I like the way she's backing down smaller opponents. Her court awareness is a bit on the spacey side at times; she drove into the lane and didn't detect a player coming up from behind her to swipe the ball. She's ideally a top complementary player instead of a first-option star.

Brown: In blowouts, she was clearly trying to set up everyone else and thought about her own offense second, which made her look especially rusty. In a real game, her competitive instincts took over and she hit a lot of big shots. Her ability to penetrate & create is incredibly important, especially because of her great touch. She's got a bit of swagger to her game that pumped up her teammates. She is not a prototypical past-first point guard, but she is rather a new-school scoring point. She will pass the ball and can do it well (her pass to Greenwell in a fast break was perfect in its precision and lack of fussiness), but she won't hesitate to load up and shoot from anywhere.

Lambert: Made a leap similar to Mathias. Her ball usage was shockingly low considering her productivity in this game, and she certainly could and should have shot the ball well. I think she's probably just trying to play off of her trigger-happy backcourt mates, but she's demonstrated a better and deeper shot and better body control, especially when it comes to shifting speeds. She's not going to fool anyone with a head fake or anything, but she's not the same 0-60, north-south player from a year ago.

Odom: One thing that getting the Duke media guide has revealed is that Odom has a great nickname, possibly the best in Duke history: "Ducky". She's like a snake looking to uncoil herself on the floor, waiting for the right time to strike. She has a slender upper body (and I'm not sure how much mass she can effectively put on), but her first step is absolutely deadly. This is a smooth wing Duke hasn't had a in a long time. She can create her own shot, attack the rim and get fouled. She also sometimes gets lost in the offensive shuffle and isn't always being as assertive as she needs to be. This is a player whom I sense will be streaky her entire career, but when she gets hot, the team should clear out and let her go to work. She wants to play defense and be a good teammate but is finding out how to do both at the moment. Odom had a highlight-reel block from behind on one play, and she's relentless on the offensive boards because of her quickness. She's a wild card for this year; she needs to be coached up and given space to make mistakes.

Primm: The coaches are occasionally using Primm at the point, and that just is a poor use of her abilities. I get it--trying to add to her skillset is important, considering how many point guards Duke has lost over the past few years. She's most definitely a "In Case of Emergency Only" option, and I was alarmed to see her get an audition to do this in a real game. Offensive, Primm needs to have an extremely low usage rate in order to be effective: quick bounce pass, quick cuts, quick shots from mid-range, stickbacks, etc. Every second she is dribbling the ball and trying to go into the lane is a turnover waiting to happen, especially against bigger opponents. On the other hand, her defensive instincts are in the upper echelon of Duke players I've seen. She came up with consecutive, huge steals that blunted Penn's last-gasp comeback hopes. Ideally, I'd love to see Primm play with at least one other ballhandler at all times in order to maximize her strengths, especially since she can play the four in a pinch when Duke goes small.

Belton: When Lynee' takes her time, sets up down low, uses her base to create space and then uses her advantages to attack, she is a tough player. Her lack of mobility hurt her against Penn's sticky zone, as did her lack of shooting. She will play better against other opponents.

Cooper: Kendall looked great in the early going this year, busting out a solid jump-hook and hitting shots with authority. She was -6 in this game, thanks to fouls and an inability to establish herself as an offense threat. Penn's size and bigs neutralized her and Kendall compounded the problem with fouls. Again, I think she will be effective against other opponents. Like Belton and Brown, there's still a lot of rust on her game.

Suggs: Faith more-or-less looks like the same player from a year ago. She can do two things well: run the floor and hit the open three. Duke has plenty of shooters, so I don't see her getting off the bench except for at the ends of halves, in blowouts, and/or in case of foul trouble/injury.

Gorecki: Haley is still recovering from hip surgery. Expect her back in late December.

Welcome To DWB Chalk Talk

Welcome to Duke Women's Basketball Chalk Talk! My name is Rob Clough, and for the past decade I've been working with Orin Day at our dwhoops.com. For reasons I think any fan who follows the Duke program can figure out, Orin has decided to take a step back for the foreseeable future. However, I've decided to keep covering the program, because I want to give the players on this team the same kind of attention I've been giving to Duke Women's Basketball since 1995.

I'll have a post up later today discussing early-season trends for each player as well as my thoughts on the Duke-Penn game. There's a donation button up for anyone who cares to contribute. Thanks for reading!