Redick Puts on a Show for the Fans
by Ray Floriani
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Duke and Texas didn’t really give us a competitive game. But it was a great show. The atmosphere and excitement, as well as a special performance, hinted of March not early December.
It is just before noon. Ninety minutes until game time and there is already a crowd outside Continental Airlines Arena. The game is a complete sellout; prime tickets are going for as much as $500 on Ebay. In this morning’s Newark Star Ledger, there was a piece about how three teenage girls from a northern New Jersey high school bought tickets for $130 each on the Ebay. Why? They love Duke and J.J. Redick, and they had the money.
Duke assistant Mike Jarvis III is under the basket as the Blue Devils warm up. We discuss the Virginia Tech game that Duke survived on a forty-footer by Sean Dockery. “Each year,” Jarvis said, “you have to get a few of those.” He went on to note how great the atmosphere was in Duke’s win at Indiana.
Among those credentialed is Adam Kamras, the Public Relations Director of Cecil Community College in Maryland. He is up here to interview Craig Winder, a 6-2 junior guard who starred a Cecil before transferring to Texas. Winder’s presence on the Texas squad is a big thing as Kamras notes the coach Bill Lewit brought the entire team to today’s game.
Just before heading upstairs, Duke assistant Chris Collins asked if I refereed this morning. In fact I did, it was a twenty-seven point blowout in a girls’ game. “Wow,” Collins replied, “at least you’ll see a close one here.” How ironic Collins’ words would turn out to be.
Beer sales are brisk and I notice the vendors have small bottles of white and red wine at their stands, probably for the older Duke alums who want a sip of merlot.
Concession stands are very busy as hats, shirts and assorted items are moving. Duke enjoys a significant, though not monumental edge, in this category. Fans making their way around the arena proudly display their allegiance. Again, Duke has a good lead. A number of fans have jerseys of their favorite players. Redick has a big lead in that area. A few Texas fans have Rose Bowl shirts – probably a reminder to Duke that you might beat us today, but we own you on the gridiron.
Two young ladies, Mary and Amy, are on a food court line and holding Duke signs. They are not Duke graduates, just fans who adore the Blue Devils and made the trip from Pennsylvania. Amy has a Redick sign, though she is wearing number 21. “Duhon was my favorite,” she said. “I like Battier too.” How about Bobby Hurley, I ask to test her sense of history and allegiance. “I loved Bobby Hurley, I thought he was great,” she said, “how could anyone not like Bobby Hurley?” Agreed, case closed.
A woman in a Texas jersey #2 for PJ Tucker, is in the front row snapping pictures and shouting encouragement to the Longhorns as they warm up. She proudly says that she is Tucker’s grandmother and she and 85 others made the bus trip from Raleigh, North Carolina to see their favorite son play. Interesting that Tucker rejected the ACC to head to Texas. “They (ACC schools) were after him,” she said, “but after visiting Texas, he came back and said that is the place for me. I don’t know what coach (Rick) Barnes said,” she adds with a laugh, “but that had to be some visit.”
Game time. Duke goes inside the first few possessions and Sheldon Williams converts. The Blue Devils are following an axiom John Chaney always preaches: establish the inside game before the outside.
Duke starts opening it up at the midway point and Redick is on fire. The Duke senior guard has the ability to run off a screen catch on the run and in seemingly one motion, establish himself and quickly release the shot. It happens so quick but he never forces.
Texas’ Brad Buckman leaves the game late in the first half with a calf injury. He will not return, but even during his seven-minute outing, Buckman struggled with the Duke big men, notable Williams.
At the half, it is 45-33 Duke, and Redick has 22 points. Of equal significance is the ease which Duke is getting their looks. Texas, on the other hand, seems to struggle for virtually every basket. While Duke has been successful inside and out, Texas has only been proficient inside: the Longhorns have 15 field goals but only one trey and two fifteen-footers.
The Arena is jammed with NBA scouts. Dermon Player is in attendance but not in an official scouting capacity today. He will begin his duties with the Charlotte Bobcats after the new year. We spoke at the half and naturally Redick was the topic. “He (Redick) is great coming off screens, but he has improved immensely in getting his own shot off the dribble,” Player notes. “Any team with a need for him and the opportunity would be foolish not to draft him.”
Texas regroups and makes an early second half run to cut it to 50-44. It is a crucial juncture for both teams, but Duke responds with a knockout punch: a 16-0 run, fueled by Redick that, for all intents, decides the contest. Redick is unconscious with his shooting touch. But it’s not all firing jumpers. He is distributing the ball, taking a charge and doing the ‘little’ things that do not always show up in the box score.
With about 6 minutes to play Redick strokes a three to give him a career-high 39 on the day. The next trip down the floor he aggressively battles in the lane and rebounds a Texas miss, all with the Blue Devils up over twenty at this point. The game is in hand, yet Redick is still hustling on both ends.
It is basically all Duke, to the delight of most of the crowd. Texas had a good contingent on hand, but by the latter part of the contest they can only watch in disbelief and awe. Still, the work of 6-10 sophomore LeMarcus Aldridge (21 points 6 boards) is a bright spot.
The final is 97-66 Duke. Redick finishes with 41 points on 13-of-24 from the floor, including 9-of-16 beyond the arc. Willams added 23 points as well.
Duke had an alumni pep band and cheerleaders present. Cheer captain Alli Gardner, a senior from Chicago, has been to the Garden last season and now Continental Airlines Arena, and was amazed at the Duke turnout and fans in both cases. “It feels like a home game at Cameron,” she says. Good point, and Texas probably felt like it was.
In the aftermath, there was deep disappointment on the Texas side. It’s nothing related to the one versus two issue; after all, it still is early December, a point Barnes made to his team following the game. The Texas coach also noted, “You have to take games like this and learn from them.”
The darkest cloud for Texas was over the inability to take care of the ball and consistently defend. Still, there were times defense was not enough.
“A lot of his (Redick’s) shots were defended with a hand in his face,” Texas guard Daniel Gibson said. ” But he knocked down those shots, he’s just a great player.”
Another concern was the Longhorns’ inability to respond after cutting it to six early in the second half.
“When we got it to five early in the second half,” Barnes noted, “Duke responded but we didn’t.”
As Tucker noted though, there is plenty of time before the two could possibly meet three months from now.
“We know we are good,” Tucker said, “but we have to learn to defend the entire possession.”
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski felt Texas’ losing Buckman was a key. Still, with or without him, as well as Redick was playing and the entire team for that matter, there was little Texas could do.
“J.J. had a spectacular performance,” Krzyzewski said, adding, “he is as good as they come.”
No one who witnessed this vintage performance would dare argue.
