Duke's zone defense, yes zone, to test Kansas in NCAA Midwest Regional final

Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski did not switch from man-to-man to zone defense this season on a mere whim.

“We gave a lot of thought to it. We give a lot of thought to everything,” the 71-year-old Hall of Fame coach said Saturday.

His Blue Devils (29-7), the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regional, will run a 2-3 zone defense — one that extends so far out it looks like a 4-1 at times — in Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight contest against No. 1 seed Kansas (30-7).

Tipoff is 4:05 p.m. at CenturyLink Center with a live telecast on CBS.

“It fits our team better. It just fits our team better,” added Coach K, whose team has rattled off 10 wins in 12 tries since going to zone after back-to-back losses to St. John’s and North Carolina in early February.

The Jayhawks have faced plenty of zones this year — KU went 1-1 versus Baylor, lost to Washington and defeated Syracuse to name just a few of the matchups — and insist they’ll be ready to go against a zone that includes a lot of length. Freshmen Marvin Bagley (6 feet 11) and Wendell Carter (6-10) start for the Blue Devils alongside 6-6 freshman Gary Trent, 6-3 frosh Trevon Duval and 6-5 senior Grayson Allen.

“They play zone, so most definitely we’re going to have to make shots,” said KU sophomore combo guard Malik Newman. He has made 18 of 39 threes in six postseason games, three in the NCAA Tournament. “I feel we as long as we are making shots we’re going to be good. We have to keep those guys off the glass. I feel we have four guards who can go get 20 (points) any day and a big man (Udoka Azubuike) who can go get 20 points any day. I feel the mismatch falls on us at the end of the day.”

KU junior guard Lagerald Vick was reminded Saturday that he was extremely effective, scoring 28 points on 12-of-23 shooting (4 of 6 from the line) against Washington’s 2-3 zone.

Of course the Huskies did beat KU, 74-65 on Dec. 6 at the Sprint Center.

“This is a little longer than Washington’s zone,” Vick said. “I have to come out aggressive, look for my shot and others’ shots and keep the ball moving.”

One concern is the Jayhawks were ineffective against Clemson’s zone during Friday’s 80-76 Sweet 16 victory over the Tigers. Clemson used the zone during 10 possessions during a second half in which the Tigers outscored KU 49-40.

“We didn’t do a good job against their zone,” Azubuike said. “We have to do a better job getting the ball inside, sharing the ball, passing the ball and kicking it out and moving the defense. We have to move the defense by passing the ball.”

It was pointed out by a media member to KU coach Bill Self that this game matches a pair of coaches who changed their systems this season. Self — who used to run the high/low offense with at least a pair of big men on the court — has used a four-guard lineup for a second season. Krzyzewski, normally a man-to-man disciple, now plays zone.

“I think personnel and youth dictate a lot of it. I can’t speak for any other program, but I would think that Duke’s always been historically one of the best defensive teams in the country year in and out,” Self said. “And when we’re playing a ton of freshmen, sometimes that’s a more difficult thing to do (play man).

“The zone with them,” Self added, “is so effective because of their size and length. I mean we see that with Syracuse all the time. So strategically I think it’s a good move. And with us, we didn’t do it (four-guard offense) because we chose to. We did it because of personnel.

“Last year when you talk about your 4-man being a guard, but the guard is Josh Jackson and he’s a lottery pick, it’s a little bit different than playing with legitimate four guards. We’re playing a lot smaller than we have in years past. That’s the biggest challenge for us.”

It’s always possible Duke could abandon the zone at some point in Sunday’s game, though the Blue Devils have allowed just 62 points a game on 39.4 percent shooting (26.5 percent from three) in the last 12 games while exclusively using zone.

“We still do some man-to-man, we haven’t done it in a game recently,” Krzyzewski said. “There’s got to be one primary defense you spend most of your time doing.”

Duke senior Allen says the Blue Devils trusted their coach to choose the right defense for this team.

“It didn’t seem like it was very grudgingly,” Allen said of Coach K abandoning the man. “I think he’s obviously a man coach. Once we tried out — and we tried out zone really early in the year — it was working because of our length and athleticism. Once he kind of realized that this team is way better at zone, he went with that.”

Krzyzewski, who is 7-4 all-time against KU — 1-2 versus KU teams coached by Self — said KU’s offense presents huge problems against any defense.

“Bill’s team is very similar to a number of teams we’ve had, where you have four outstanding perimeter guys and then one really good big guy,” Krzyzewski said. “In Graham you have really one of the great leaders, not just players in the country. He’s one of the top five players in America and it’s not just because he scores, but it’s how he leads. When he’s on the court, everybody is better.

“Malik has benefited from playing with him and he’s playing at the highest level,” Coach K added. “And (Svi) Mykhailiuk … I saw him when he was a 16-year-old playing for Ukraine. We knew how good he was going to become.

“Vick is that athlete that benefits somewhat from that 4-matchup, depending on who it is that Bill puts on the 4. They play well together, they share the ball. And Azubuike has been such a big man inside for them and plays with tremendous energy and power. For their perimeter guys to know that the big guy is back there, I think that helps him. I read their comments after the game yesterday and they (KU players) were so reverent to Azubuike as to the strength it gives the perimeter. They complement each other well. His teams are always unselfish.”

Of Duke’s talent, Self said simply: “They have great players. Who knows, they may have five first-round draft picks. Could have the No. 1 pick (in Bagley), definitely a couple of lottery picks. We’ve got good players too. If we play our game, and everybody’s talking about how do we match up with them, we’ll hopefully we can be in a game that forces them to kind of play a little differently to match up with us. That’s hard to do when you play zone a lot of the time. It will be a tough game, but it’s going to be a fun game. We know we’ve got our hands full, but we’d like to think they have their hands full, too.”

The winner advances to the Final Four and a national semifinal against Texas Tech or Villanova a week from Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.

“It should be a fun game for a lot of reasons, especially with the history of both ball clubs,” Self said of the blueblood programs.

This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Duke's zone defense, yes zone, to test Kansas in NCAA Midwest Regional final."