John Blanchette: Devils always Duke it out

NEW YORK – The better you are, the better you get at giving compliments – and Mike Krzyzewski delivered a beauty Thursday night.

“I thought our kids had to win,” he said, “because Gonzaga wasn’t going to lose.”

Pretty nice. See, he made it not about skill but about will, and will is valued above all else in sports – and when it isn’t, it should be.

Of course, it was also the kind of compliment that elevated his team even higher – and rightfully so. Because in Duke’s 61-54 victory over Gonzaga in front of a spirited sellout at Madison Square Garden, the Blue Devils weren’t necessarily the superior team, but they did have the superior will.

It was their defense that held up for 40 minutes and not just 20. They dictated the pace and the pitch. They sold out for every ball – as when guard Greg Paulus sliced up his chin diving underneath the press table. And it was their guys who got a basket or to the foul line every time they needed to protect a lead.

And the Bulldogs?

While it’s no particular consolation, they may get more out this experience than any of the high-profile games they’ve played the last eight years that weren’t in March – if nothing else, because it was more like a March game than the others.

OK, maybe the short-attention-span set would have rather seen Adam Morrison and J.J. Redick raining in runners and 3s, the way it would have been if this game had been scheduled a year ago. No, it wasn’t an ESPN “Instant Classic” like the Michigan State shootout in Maui last fall.

Unless there is a classic channel for the basketball equivalent of pioneer women beating the laundry on flat rocks down by the river.

“A grinder,” is what Gonzaga coach Mark Few called it – and, yes, the game often seemed like an aspirin tablet getting the business end of a pestle.

This was especially the case in the first half. At the final TV timeout before intermission, the scoreboard had it 19-12, Gonzaga, and Duke had made just 4 of 24 shots. The Zags, energized by blocks and buckets off the bench by Abdullahi Kuso, would have sprinted into the locker room all charged up with a 12- or 14-point lead, except they were in the middle of a 5 1/2-minute blank themselves. A couple of 3-pointers actually pushed the Dookies ahead until Derek Raivio’s short jumper made it 21-20 at the half.

That, by the way, would be his last shot.

Oh, he wasn’t hurt. Raivio played every minute of the second half. But Duke’s defense wrapped itself around him like Saran and that, along with another meltdown by Josh Heytvelt inside, would be the difference once the Devils started to solve Gonzaga’s zone.

“It wasn’t just not getting a shot,” Raivio said. “Sometimes I wasn’t even touching the ball. They were face-guarding me in transition and on ball screens, they were switching everything. Still, I think I could have done more things to help myself out and the team.”

In the college basketball world, Duke is Duke – but Duke is also defense. Krzyzewski has demanded that. So far this year, five opponents have shot less than 32 percent against the Devils, and the Zags had to heat up in the second half to get it to 38.6.

“He’s got a firm conviction in defense,” said Few, “and that emanates to all his players. They play so darn hard – guys like Paulus diving into the (press) table and flying around. With great coaches, teams reflect their beliefs.”

Gonzaga obviously played some good defense, too – but early, not late. In fact, other than a missed Duke 1-and-1, the Zags didn’t get a single stop in the last 5 minutes – and Jeremy Pargo, whose stunning drives, scoops and spins electrified both camps in the Garden, couldn’t make enough buckets by himself to overcome that.

And there were three straight turnovers when they’d closed the second-half gap to three. And three straight missed layups when they needed to load up for their last run.

All those things to rue, as always happens with an opportunity missed.

“You look at the stats and we turn it over 10 times against them and hold them under 35 percent from the field,” sighed GU assistant coach Bill Grier. “You have to feel you have a great chance to beat them.”

But the biggest part of this opportunity may have been just been, well, the opportunity. Duke schedules at its will, and it has only indulged Texas and Oklahoma in this quasi-neutral court New York experience. Gonzaga doesn’t need any more respect, but sharing this stage – with more than 2,000 of its own fans making the pilgrimage, was something of a statement, too.

“What you have is not two teams,” insisted Krzyzewski. “You have two programs. We are going to play (hard). That is just the commitment we have. If we play hard, good things are going to happen to us. Winning will take care of itself.

“Gonzaga has done that more this decade. You have the two winningest programs in this decade or this century – it’s a short century. You get that by coming to play hard.”

Actually, they’re No. 1 and No. 3 – Illinois is wedged between – but his point is taken. And it’s probably the best compliment of all.