Women's Basketball Playing a New Level of Defense
Meredith Rieder, GoDuke The Magazine
This story originally appeared in the 14.6 Issue of GoDuke the Magazine – January 2023
Buy-in — acceptance of and willingness to actively support and participate in something, such as a proposed new plan or policy. The presence of it often leads to success. Without it, a plan is just that — an idea on paper.
For Duke women’s basketball head coach Kara Lawson, if she and the rest of the coaching staff were going to implement a new defensive scheme for the 2022-23 season, they needed the buy-in from the players first and foremost.
“You have to have player buy-in to play good defense,” said Lawson. “It’s really nice to say we’re going to play great defense. (But) you really have to have players who are willing to work that hard every possession. The whole program has to be invested in it and we were, and we made great strides (from last season) and we continue to make great strides.”
Last season, Duke finished the year with a 17-13 overall record and 7-11 mark in conference play. The Blue Devils ranked 11th in the ACC and 156th in the country in field goal percentage defense. Duke allowed 62.2 points per game to rank eighth in the conference and 148th nationally, while its three-point field goal percentage was last in the league and 292nd in the nation.
The numbers were not favorable to finding wins, especially in the highly competitive ACC. So, if Duke was going to be competitive for an ACC title and make an NCAA Tournament run something had to change.
“One of the things going back to last year we assessed over the summer as a staff was how poor defensively we were,” Lawson said. “So, if you look at our numbers from last year, we were a poor defensive team and that was my fault as a coach. We didn’t practice it well and it didn’t translate well, so that was a big point of emphasis for our entire staff in the offseason.”
While it was obvious to the staff there needed to be a focus on improving defensive schemes, it was not a plug-and-play situation. It’s not, ‘We like this defensive set or this type of press, so we’ll install that.’ You need to take a close look at the personnel involved.
Fast-forward to July when the majority of the 2022-23 roster was on campus. The coaches were able to evaluate the team to see the pieces they had to solve this puzzle. It didn’t take long for assistant coach Karen Lange — who had just joined the staff in April and works closely with the guards — to realize the Blue Devils could be an aggressive man-to-man squad.
“This summer when everybody was here for summer school would have been my first thought of ‘We could be a really aggressive man-to-man team,’” said Lange. “I wasn’t sure about the pressing yet because it wasn’t clear what our depth was going to be at that point. I did think athletically, especially on the perimeter, we could be a pretty good, aggressive man-to-man team.”
As the Blue Devils hit the court and weight room over the summer and into early fall, it became apparent the depth, skill and athleticism were all there to run the defensive schemes the coaching staff favored.
The next project was a fun one for associate head coach Tia Jackson, who is in her third year on Lawson’s staff at Duke. A defensive standout herself at Iowa — she still ranks 13th in Hawkeye history in steals — Jackson enjoyed finding the best fit for the Blue Devils.
“A huge piece (to a good defense) is to have the necessary bodies to do so,” said Jackson. “One, it takes a lot of energy. And then the types of personnel we need inside of it. There are a thousand different presses you could run. Finding the one that suited us best was a fun project in the preseason. Then once we got through the summer and the start of the fall and seeing how we’re moving and what we’re capable of doing and building on the (non-basketball) principles. It was seeing all of that and then going to Coach (Lawson) saying this is what we can do."
This is where the non-basketball skill of trust comes in. The players must trust the coaching staff’s belief they can execute the plan. And the student-athletes must have the confidence that their teammates will always have their backs, because defense is a total team effort.
“I think we talk to them a lot about being connected,” Lange said. “All five on the court at the same time. I think that’s really really key, being connected and trusting each other. Because when you have those two things defensively, whatever they’re being taught, whatever we’re playing, whatever we’re doing it, only works from a defensive Xs and Os standpoint if we’re connected and we’re trusting each other.”
Becoming arguably the most disruptive defense in the ACC and ranking ninth nationally in field goal percentage defense started with hours in the film room and in practice. On the court leaders stepped up in a way they didn’t last year, bringing the rest of the team along.
A noticeable pickup in good chatter during practice followed by consistent play during the games this season has the Blue Devils sporting a 17-2 record (through Jan. 25) and holding opponents to just 50.9 points per game and 34.7 percent shooting — both marks atop the league charts and in the top 10 nationally.
“I think our leadership vocally has improved drastically having been here last year and just hearing the difference in practice,” Jackson said. “Hearing the consistency and the ownership in games has been a huge change for us. Coach (Lawson) has said this in practices as well. ‘There are going to be some weaker defenders out there. We’re only as strong as that weakest person.’ So, if I am the weak link, it’s up to (a teammate) to talk me through it, get me right and make sure I know what I’m supposed to be doing.”
While defense is a complete team effort — and the Blue Devils have shown that — the trio of Celeste Taylor, Kennedy Brown and Elizabeth Balogun is the engine to the well-oiled machine. They each bring their own elite skills to the table, both basketball and non-basketball.
Taylor is a highly skilled elite athlete with an incredibly high basketball IQ. She leads the team and ranks fifth in the ACC in steals while also pacing Duke on offense with 12.9 points, 2.1 assists and 28.1 minutes played per game. She’s the Swiss Army Knife of Duke women’s basketball — she can do it all.
“The obvious answer is Celeste,” Lange said when asked about who is key to the defense. “(Associate head coach) Winston (Gandy) referred to her several times this summer as the ambulance because last year she was going all over the place saving everybody. She still does that for us, but luckily, I don’t think she has to do that as much. We have more people who are doing what they’re supposed to be doing and holding their own. But she has to be on the floor defensively for us to be really good.”
Brown, in her first season at Duke after transferring from Oregon State, is a major disruptor around the basket standing at 6-foot-6. She is averaging 1.4 blocks per game, but it’s not her post-up defense the Blue Devils rely on. It’s all the small details she takes care of that go unnoticed by the average fan.
“Most people would think it’s because she’s 6-6 and she gives you great size,” Lange said. “If you really know anything about basketball and as you’re watching Xs and Os, it’s all of her coverage and everything that doesn’t involve the simple post-up defense. It’s all the other movement defensively that we’re asking her to do at 6-6 and it’s super impressive that she can do it consistently well.”
Balogun gives the Blue Devils great versatility on defense. She can drop down low and guard a big or pop out to defend a guard or an athletic four. The other piece she provides in the halfcourt defense is her ability to rebound. The senior leads the squad with nearly six rebounds per game and picks up one steal per game to go along with a 10.9 points per game average.
With the three-headed monster of Taylor, Brown and Balogun leading the charge, the Blue Devils have given opposing offenses fits all season and it’s never in the same way. Duke can take away opponents’ strengths and has proven to do so consistently. The Blue Devils simply disrupt whatever offense is thrown at them.
When the Blue Devils traveled to Florida Gulf Coast earlier this season the Eagles led the nation in 3-pointers made per game (11.7) and attempts per game (35.3). Duke came in and held FGCU to five threes on 20 attempts, and 25 percent shooting from behind the arc.
Duke, finishing its nonconference slate at 10-1, held teams to 48.5 points per game, 31.9 percent shooting from the floor and just 25.9 percent from long range. The Blue Devils forced 19.6 turnovers per game in the 11 games, including 15 against UConn, while also holding the Huskies to 12 points below their season average at the time.
Now with the Blue Devils in the thick of conference action the numbers have understandably dropped a touch, but Lawson and the Blue Devils are excited to meet the challenge of ACC play night in and night out.
“ACC presents a bigger challenge I think for us over the long haul defensively,” Lawson said. “We may have played some teams in the nonconference that challenged us defensively in many ways and stretched us. Now in the ACC it’s really hard and we’ve got to find a way to get our defensive numbers to hold steady versus great competition. That’s our next challenge because they have slipped a little bit in league play.”
“Slipped” is relative. Duke is still holding opponents under 51 points per game and has allowed only one ACC squad to score more than 58 points in a game. Clemson and Louisville are the only two conference foes to shoot over 40 percent against the Blue Devils, but Duke used 11 and 20 points off turnovers, respectively, to pull out wins and remain at the top of the ACC standings.
And as competition has ramped up so has the play and leadership on the defensive end by the Blue Devils. Buoyed by the success they’ve had, the players are raising their ability to play fluidly and adapt to any changes being thrown at them by an opponent.
“I think the challenge is our kids understanding what their coverages are in their particular areas and then being able to move on the fly should someone throw something random at us,” Jackson explained. “From that standpoint, there is continual growth, and our kids are seeing it on their own. They’re starting to come into the huddle, and they’ll offer suggestions which is awesome. (We’ve seen) some high-level decisions being made out on the floor.”
For those who haven’t made their way to Cameron Indoor Stadium to watch a game, it’s time to buy-in to what Lawson and the Blue Devils have built. Something special is brewing in Durham in 2023 and it’s fun to watch.
“I think all the credit goes to them for as hard as they’re willing to play for us for 40 minutes every game and what we’re asking them to do and they’ve actually bought in,” Lange said. “They give us tremendous effort. It’s not always exactly right, but they give us tremendous effort, so I think the credit really goes to them for doing that and being willing to do that because it’s very hard.”
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