{"id":53375,"date":"2017-11-27T10:10:17","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T10:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=53375"},"modified":"2017-11-27T10:10:17","modified_gmt":"2017-11-27T10:10:17","slug":"duke-youngsters-show-poise-another-comeback-win-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/duke-youngsters-show-poise-another-comeback-win-florida.html","title":{"rendered":"Duke youngsters show poise in another comeback win over Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Duke youngsters show poise in another comeback win over Florida<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Duke youngsters show poise in another comeback win over Florida:- Mike Krzyzewski talks regularly to his doctor. That\u2019s how it works when you\u2019re 70 and still working \u2014 especially if that work is sometimes stressful.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stressful. That\u2019s the word senior guard Grayson Allen used to describe Duke\u2019s weekend at the PK80 Invitational, a three-game tourney in which the top-ranked Blue Devils came back three times, eventually pulling out wins against Portland State, Texas and No. 7 Florida after trailing by as much as eight, 16 and 17, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those are the type of games that might cause one\u2019s blood pressure to rise. But Krzyzewski, a Hall of Famer who\u2019s won five national championships, isn\u2019t worried about his health just yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Your blood pressure is a lot higher when you don\u2019t have good players,” Krzyzewski said. “We have a very talented player” \u2014 he motioned to his left, where McDonald\u2019s All-American Marvin Bagley III sat \u2014 “and I believe in my guys.”<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to see why, after Duke\u2019s did-that-really-happen comeback win over Florida in the championship game of the Motion bracket in a 16-team extravaganza that featured five top-25 teams. This Duke group oozes both talent and moxie. Often on a young team, you\u2019ll find players looking around at each other wondering who is going to hit the big shot or make the game-winning play. So far this season at Duke, underclassmen are trading turns being the hero.<\/span><\/p>\n

The night belonged mostly to Bagley, the newcomer who Krzyzewski calls “the most unique kid I\u2019ve ever coached,” a 6-foot-11 forward who can guard all five positions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bagley was terrific inside (30 points on 10-of-20 shooting, 9-of-10 from the line and 15 rebounds) and Florida had no answer for him. Allen (14 points, seven assists and two steals) pointed out that type of double-double is usually loud and in your face. Bagley\u2019s, by contrast, was “simple and beautiful,” a clinic in composure as Duke weathered multiple Florida runs.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the play of the night might have belonged to fellow freshman Gary Trent Jr., who stormed into the lane with 1:58 left and ripped a defensive rebound away from multiple Florida upperclassmen. Trent might be a rookie, but in that moment he looked more like a tenacious veteran who understood his team needed the ball right away and because he was there, he was going to do it himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

That possession led to another Bagley bucket inside to cut Duke\u2019s deficit to one, and was followed by two free throws from Trent to give Duke the lead, 85-84. The Blue Devils would not trail again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trent finished his spectacular late-game stretch with a steal, which led to two more free throws for an 87-84 lead. Florida bungled its last look, and the three-point attempt that Egor Koulechov threw up while falling down barely drew iron.<\/span><\/p>\n

Krzyzewski dubbed Trent\u2019s last couple minutes “unbelievable.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Trent, a 6-foot-6, 209-pound guard, shrugged off his late-game heroics.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We needed the ball, and we needed stops,” he said. “So I was going to do whatever I needed to do.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Duke starts four freshmen alongside Allen, the only senior on the Blue Devils\u2019 roster. This is a team with a lot to learn and a lot of room for improvement. If they\u2019re scary now, they\u2019ll be a nightmare come March. Krzyzewski said what\u2019s impressive to him isn\u2019t that Duke has been coming back with so many young guys \u2014 it\u2019s that they\u2019ve been doing it without much practice time. Sunday night marked Duke\u2019s ninth game in 20 days, which means the Blue Devils haven\u2019t had many days in empty gyms doing drill work.<\/span><\/p>\n

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“That\u2019s what\u2019s amazing to me,” he said. “We can\u2019t improvise very much in a game because it\u2019s not habitual yet. The only habitual thing is their will to win, because they bring that to us. So we\u2019ll take some slippage in Xs and Os.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked if he thinks Duke is able to come back from big deficits because freshmen don\u2019t really know any better, Bagley instead attributed it to heart. He said the first three halves in Portland were not a great example of how Duke usually plays, but that he loves how he and his teammates keep fighting. Trent agreed. And multiple players pointed to Krzyzewski\u2019s demeanor in every huddle, when he\u2019s continually projecting total confidence in his guys.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We\u2019re so composed (on the court) because he keeps telling us, \u2018We\u2019re going to win this game,\u2019 no matter what we\u2019re down,” Trent said. “He\u2019s been doing this a long time, so he\u2019s always poised.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Then Trent smiled and added playfully, “I mean, sometimes he yells at us. But for the most part, we\u2019re good.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Krzyzewki said that no matter the outcome Sunday night, he wasn\u2019t about to panic. It\u2019s only late November, and he\u2019s aware that his team will look very different come March. What it\u2019ll look like exactly, he isn\u2019t sure. “I don\u2019t have a vision right now,” he said. He intends to practice what he preaches to his players, and stay in the now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Allen, the veteran, acknowledged with a laugh that\u2019d he\u2019d be fine in the coming months with replacing dramatic come-from-behind victories with good, old-fashioned blowouts.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I\u2019m not sure we can come back by 16 every time,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

If they do, it might lead to heightened blood pressure for Krzyzewski. Fortunately for him, he\u2019s got a doctor on speed dial. But more importantly, he\u2019s got a roster loaded with talent.<\/span><\/p>\n

source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ncaab\/2017\/11\/27\/duke-poise-comeback-victory-florida-pk-80-tournament\/896776001\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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