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Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Exhibition Basketball: On the job training
Cooper Service
By BRIAN LESTER

STAFF WRITER



DURHAM, NC ­-- On a warm and sunny Tuesday morning in North Carolina, the University of Findlay men's basketball team was busy preparing for its exhibition game against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, which the Oilers lost 84-48 Tuesday night.

After breakfast, the team went into a hotel conference room to go over the scouting report on Duke, the ninth-ranked team in the Associated Press poll and the co-favorites to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

The session detailed the game plan and the players watched video highlights of Duke's convincing 128-70 exhibition win over NCAA Division II Pfeiffer.

Niekamp said the time he and the coaching staff take to go over the game plan with the team is a vital part of the preparation process.

"We have our video session and go through a lot of the sets they run," Niekamp said. "Our players get an understanding of who they highlight in their offense. Singler is obviously there best player and they have a lot of talent around him. We will have matchup problems, but by the same token, they could have matchup problems with us, too."

After the scouting report session, the Oilers made the short trip from the hotel to Cameron where they held a shoot-around. The atmosphere was relaxed inside the gymnasium.

The wide-eyed looks similar to those of children on Christmas morning that were evident a day earlier when the Oilers were here did not exist.

"We felt good about our preparation," senior guard Nathan Hyde said. "Having to prepare for a big game like this is something that will benefit us down the road."

Then it was game time.

Music from the band blared as fans filed into the arena. The student section roared to its feet as the Blue Devils took the floor and chanted "Let's Go Devils" over and over again.

The famed Cameron Crazies did their best to intimidate the Oilers as they emerged from their locker room for the pre-game warm-ups.

"It didn't bother us," said freshman forward Jack Smith, who was in the starting lineup. "It actually pumped me up. I love playing in front of big crowds. It made me want to play even harder."

The Oilers did indeed and play hard, and for a moment, they had a sliver of hope.

Senior point guard Marcus Parker went backdoor for a layup and UF led 2-1 in the opening minute. But there is a reason why Duke has won more than 80 percent of their games here and a reason why USA Today dubbed this gym one of the toughest places to play in the country.

Kyle Singler, the Duke All-American, made a layup and drilled a trey to energize the near-capacity crowd. At that point, UF trailed 6-2 and would fall behind 10-2 before Nathan Hyde's layup halted the run with 16 minutes to play.

UF kept the game relatively close with its tenacious defensive play early on, forcing the Blue Devils to take several tough shots.

"I thought at times we did some good things on defense," Niekamp said. "We competed hard on that end of the floor. But once they started dropping threes on us, and driving to the basket and getting to the foul line, which are the things you need to do to be successful, we struggled."

Eight minutes into the game, the score was surprisingly close because of UF's defensive effort. The Oilers trailed just 16-11 after freshman guard JoVaughn Brown went into the lane for a layup.

Eight minutes later, though, the score wasn't as close. Duke doubled up its lead, 32-16, on a 3-pointer by guard Jon Scheyer, an All-American candidate and the Blue Devils' top long-range threat.

At halftime, the Oilers trailed 36-23.

Scheyer was impressed with UF's effort but not so happy with the way Duke performed.

"Team-wise, we could have played better, especially in the first half," Scheyer said. "Findlay is a good team even though they are D-II. They were national champs last year and I thought they played hard."

It was as if the Oilers were hit in the gut at the start of the second half. Duke flexed its offensive muscle as Singler torched the Oilers for seven quick points. The Blue Devils fed off the effort and built a commanding 49-27 advantage less than three minutes into the half.

"I'm sure Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) got on them at halftime," Parker said. "There effort was better in the second half. They have great players, but I thought we played good defense at times."

UF desperately tried to chip away at the deficit but it was to no avail. Jump shots and layups wouldn't fall, no one could slow down Singler or Scheyer, and the fans showed off their math skills, chanting at one point that the 55 points Duke had with 14:33 to go was more than double the 27 UF had.

Hyde impressed the crowd with a 3-pointer that banked off the glass and made the score 60-30, but it was one of the few highlights the Oilers had in the second half as Duke controlled the game and cruised to the win. Duke fans began chanting "Drive Home Safely" as the final 30 seconds ticked off the clock.

"I had to laugh when the fans were asking me if I called my shot," Hyde said. "Kids dream about the chance to play in front of the Cameron Crazies. It was a lot of fun. I thought we battled hard, though. They just have more size than we do and we didn't shoot the ball very well. That was the difference."

UF shot 25.3 percent (19-of-75) from the field and hit just 5-of-21 from 3-point range. The Oilers were led by Parker's 14-point effort. He grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists as well. Hyde pumped in 13 points and was 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. Smith scored 6 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.

"We had a difficult time shooting the ball. It seemed like they were constantly contesting shots," Niekamp said. "They had their way with us in the second half. But we were playing one of the best teams in the nation. They are very good."

Singler led Duke with 20 points while Scheyer pumped in 19. The Blue Devils shot 41.2 percent (28-of-68) from the field and held a 59-38 edge in rebounds.

While the final score showed a decisive 36-point win, the Oilers walked away from this game with a better understanding of what they need to do to reach the level they did a year ago when they finished 36-0 and won the program's first national championship.

"We know we have a lot to work on and we will learn from this experience," Hyde said. "But the fact that we played good defense is a positive. We hung in there for awhile. Coach K's voice was a little run down from yelling so much."

But while the memory of the final score may fade and the statistics probably won't be remembered, the Oilers do walk away from this game with a memory that will last forever.

"This experience is right up at the top of my list," Parker said. "This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's something I'll never forget."



FINDLAY (48)

Avery 1-7 0-0 2, Smith 3-12 0-0 8, Marsden 2-6 0-0 2, Hyde 5-13 0-0 13, Parker 5-15 3-4 14, Coon 0-3 0-0 0, Robinson 2-10, 0-0 5, Schomaeker 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 1-6 2-4 4, Wehri 0-0 0-0 0, Zeigler 0-0 0-0 0, Agunga 0-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19-75 5-8 48.

DUKE (84)

Mi. Plumlee 3-8 3-4 9, Thomas 3-3 2-2 8, Zoubek 3-6 3-5 9, Singler 8-12 2-3 20, Scheyer 6-13 4-4 19, Smith 2-4 3-4 7, Ma. Plumlee 2-9 2-3 6, Czyz 1-5 0-0 2, Dawkins 0-5 0-0 0, Kelly 0-2 4-4 4, Davidson 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28-68 23-29 84.

HALFTIME: Duke 36-23.

3-Point GOALS: Findlay 5-21 (Hyde 3-9, Robinson 1-3, Parker 1-4, Brown 0-1, Avery 0-2, Smith 0-2). Duke 5-15 (Singler 2-3, Scheyer 3-8, Czyz 0-1, Dawkins 0-3).

rebounds: Findlay 38 (Smith 8, Avery & Parker 5); Duke 59 (Mi. Plumlee 10, Thomas, Zoubek & Singler 9).

ASSISTS: Findlay 10 (Hyde & Parker 3); Duke 16 (Singler 4).

STEALS: Findlay 10 (Avery 4, Coon 3); Duke 10 (Scheyer 3).

BLOCKS: Findlay 1; Duke 12 (Ma. Plumlee 5, Mi. Plumlee 3).

turnovers: Findlay 20, Duke 19.

TOTAL FOULS: Findlay 23, Duke 14.

FOULED OUT: Marsden, Mi. Plumlee.

Lester: 419-422-5151,

Send an e-mail to Brian Lester


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2 Comments

Latest comments listed first.
David Morrell wrote:
On the job training
“ Enjoyed the read. You put the game into perspective. It was good effort by Findlay as well as Duke. It will pay dividends for both teams in the early season. It might pay big dividends for Findlay at the end of the season. ”
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 5:40:51 PM
ONLINE EDITOR wrote:
Audio Posted
“ To hear audio from Coach Niekamp and players Jack Smith, Marcus Parker and Nathan Hyde -- as well as the Duke fans known as the "Cameron Crazies" -- visit Brian Lester's blog Orange & Black Attack:

http://thecourier.typepad.com/orange_black_attack/ ”
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 11:58:52 AM

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