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 Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. (Re: Deng)
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Connecticut at Duke
Men's Basketball · Preview
Time: 8:47 p.m. EST Venue: Alamodome
GAME: Connecticut (31-6) vs. Duke (31-5).
ROUND: National Semifinals.
TIME: Saturday, 8:47 p.m. EST.
SITE: The Alamodome, San Antonio.
Nothing short of a Final Four was expected for this Connecticut team. A Final Four is expected every year at Duke.
With both teams right where they were supposed to be, the Huskies and Blue Devils meet in a rematch of the 1999 national championship game, with the winner earning the right to play for another title.
Connecticut won its lone national title with a 77-74 victory in that game, and Saturday's semifinal could be just as good as that contest was.
The Huskies and Blue Devils were Nos. 1 and 2 in the preseason, and they have been the two best teams in the postseason. UConn won its four games in the Phoenix Regional by an average of 17.5 points, while Duke had an average winning margin of 19.0 points despite beating Xavier by only three in the Atlanta Regional final.
Unlike the 1999 game, when a Duke team featuring future NBA players Elton Brand, Shane Battier and Corey Maggette was heavily favored, UConn enters this contest as a slight favorite.
"Connecticut is playing like the best team in the country right now. They blew everybody out in their region," Duke guard J.J. Redick said. "None of those games were even close. They just jumped on teams right away. That's an impressive thing - the way they score. They get up and down. They have so many different options on offense and they're pretty deep. They bring some good guys off the bench, too."
The Huskies played inconsistently for much of the season, but hit their stride starting with the Big East tournament. Showing an ability to score from inside or outside while continuing to lead the nation in field-goal percentage defense, UConn has finally looked like the powerful team many expected it to be.
"It would have been incredibly disappointing if we didn't get to a Final Four with this group," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "This is as good a group of kids as I've ever been around. They're incredibly talented. I don't know if it's the best team I've ever had, but I can tell you this much, they're incredible people to be around."
The biggest reason for the strong play has been the performance of Ben Gordon. The junior guard was having a somewhat disappointing season until raising his level of play once fellow star Emeka Okafor had to miss a pair of games in the Big East tournament because of a back injury.
Gordon scored a tournament-record 81 points in New York to lead the Huskies to the conference championship and hasn't slowed down since. He is averaging 22 points in the NCAA tournament and scored 36 in UConn's 87-71 victory over Alabama in the regional final.
"I haven't really done anything different," Gordon said. "I think the last few weeks I had to step up a lot. I've been successful and we've been successful as a team."
Okafor was hurt again in the regional final, taking a hard hit to the neck-shoulder area that caused numbness in his arm. The nation's leading shot blocker and second-leading rebounder was hurt again toward the end of practice Wednesday, but is expected to be ready to play.
Duke's leader has also had to overcome a late-season injury. Chris Duhon hurt his ribs in the ACC championship game, but has played through the pain to lead the Blue Devils to their 14th Final Four.
While his offense has suffered, Duhon has continued to play superb defense. He helped limit Illinois' Deron Williams to 3-of-13 shooting in the round of 16, then took turns covering both members of Xavier's high-scoring duo of Lionel Chalmers and Romain Sato on Sunday. Chalmers shot 6-of-16 and Sato was 2-of-10.
If coach Mike Krzyzewski puts Duhon on the opponent's hottest guard again, then Duhon would match up with Gordon on Saturday night.
While a healthy Okafor would give the inside advantage to UConn, perimeter play is a strength for both teams. Rashad Anderson has been nearly as hot as Gordon, hitting 16 of 31 3-pointers in the tournament and averaging 18 points. He was 6-of-6 in the first half against Alabama and finished with a career-high 28 points.
The Blue Devils counter with their three-guard lineup of Redick, Duhon and Daniel Ewing, and are shooting 48.9 percent from the field in the tournament. They also have an outstanding slasher in Luol Deng, who averaged 18.5 points in the last two games and earned regional MVP honors.
If Deng is too quick for Josh Moore, he could end up being covered by UConn reserve Charlie Villanueva, his former teammate at Blair Academy in New Jersey.
Duke is two wins away from a fourth national title under Krzyzewski. Though the Blue Devils have reached 10 Final Fours since 1986, this is their longest tournament run since winning their last title in 2001.
"I believe if I played here four years under Coach K and we didn't make it to the Final Four, I'd be disappointed," Redick said. "I don't know if it would be unfulfilled because you can measure success and all that other stuff in other ways, but it would definitely be a disappointment."
Duke leads the series 4-3, but UConn has won the last three meetings. The Blue Devils eliminated the Huskies from the 1964, 1990 and 1991 NCAA tournaments.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Connecticut - F Boone (5.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg), F Anderson (11.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg), C Okafor (17.4 ppg, 11.6 rpg), G Taliek Brown (6.2 ppg, 6.6 apg), G Gordon (18.5 ppg, 4.6 apg). Duke - F Deng (15.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg), F Shelden Williams (12.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg), G Ewing (12.7 ppg, 1.9 apg), G Duhon (9.9 ppg, 6.1 apg), G Redick (15.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Connecticut - Automatic bid, Big East champion; beat No. 15 Vermont 70-53, first round; beat No. 7 DePaul 72-55, second round; beat No. 6 Vanderbilt 73-53, Phoenix Regional semifinals; beat No. 8 Alabama 87-71, regional final. Duke - At-large berth; beat No. 16 Alabama State 96-61, first round; beat No. 8 Seton Hall 90-62, second round; beat No. 5 Illinois 72-62, Atlanta Regional semifinals; beat No. 7 Xavier 66-63, regional final.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORDS: Connecticut - 34-23, 25 years. Duke - 81-24, 28 years.
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الكاتب |
Date |
| Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Deng | 03-29-04, 10:50 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | zumrawi | 03-29-04, 11:07 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Deng | 03-29-04, 11:11 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | مراويد | 03-29-04, 11:13 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | مراويد | 03-29-04, 11:25 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Deng | 03-30-04, 02:15 AM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Muhib | 03-30-04, 02:17 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Deng | 03-31-04, 02:42 AM |
 Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Raja | 03-31-04, 03:05 AM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Deng | 03-31-04, 03:11 AM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | omdurmani | 03-31-04, 06:58 AM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | aymen | 03-31-04, 10:49 AM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | ابو جهينة | 03-31-04, 12:28 PM |
 Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | ترهاقا | 03-31-04, 12:51 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | أبوالزفت | 03-31-04, 02:27 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Deng | 03-31-04, 11:37 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | اسامة الخاتم | 04-01-04, 00:21 AM |
 Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Raja | 04-01-04, 05:18 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | خالد عويس | 04-01-04, 05:31 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Raja | 04-02-04, 05:02 AM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Raja | 04-02-04, 10:37 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Deng | 04-03-04, 06:25 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Deng | 04-03-04, 11:11 PM |
| Re: Loual Deng, is already a star in the US. | Deng | 04-03-04, 11:18 PM |
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