Duke - Seton Hall Preview

Seton Hall's first Huge Challenge of the year is tonight as the Seton Hall Pirates go into Cameron Indoor looking to upset the #1 Dukies.

Projected Starting Lineups

Duke- C- Sheldon Williams PF- Lee Melchionni SF- J.J. Reddick PG- Sean Dockery SG- Demarcus Nelson

Seton Hall- C-Marcus Cousin PF- Kelly Whitney SF- Stanley Gaines PG- Donald Copeland SG- Jamar Nutter

Duke Bench- C/F- Josh McRoberts G- Martynas Pocious G- Greg Paulus C- Eric Boateng F- Jamal Boykin
Seton Hall Bench- C- Garcia C- Billmeier G- Laing G- Marshall G- Gause F- Palmer F-Messy

Analysis-

#1 Duke presents Seton Hall with possibly its toughest match up all season. The Pirates must play outstanding perimeter defense to stay in this game. They will have to communicate, switch and fight through screens. The Pirates must be aware where Reddick is at all times on the court. The other Silent assassin Duke has is Lee Melchionni. The Pirates must not give him any open looks on the perimeter. Down low Duke will pound the ball inside to Williams. The Pirates can’t let him establish post position down low. They must make him work for position. I look for Cousin to front the ball a lot since he’s giving up a lot of size down low. Seton Hall will have to play man to man against Duke. They will not be able to play zone defense because Duke will pick them apart. Offensively, the Pirates will face man to man pressure defense. Duke does an excellent job of pressuring the ball.

The Pirates will have to take care of the basketball against Duke in order to have a chance to win the game. The Pirates on offense can not afford to be stagnant. They will have to have a lot of ball movement, ball reversal, good spacing and fluidity in order to be effective against this pressure defense. Seton Hall must make Duke work on the defensive end of the floor. Donald Copeland must be able to dribble penetrate to create open looks for his teammates. I would not be surprised to see the Pirates go with a smaller lineup for a lot of the game tonight for better match up purposes.

Keys for the Pirates to Win the Game:

Defensively- Defend the 3pt shot; know where Reddick is at all times, make Sheldon Williams work for his post position, transition defense, communication, switch and be able to fight through screens, crash the boards and rebound the ball. Must eliminate 2nd chance points.

Offensively- Must take care of the ball, no turnovers, ball movement, must make Duke work defensively, must convert all free throws attempts, dribble penetration, movement on offense, good floor spacing, motion, establish the inside down low, hit the boards to create 2nd chance points, must have a good shot selection and Patience.