Cutting off passing lanes. Applying full-court harassment. Trapping with double-teams. Smacking at the ball at every opportunity. Making the life of opposing offenses a living hell. Yep, that’s what playing old-school Duke basketball defense is all about.
Intense. All the time.
Although there have been flashes of it this decade, fans — including this one — who were spoiled by the program-defining defense of teams from yesteryear have noticed and griped about it not appearing on a consistent basis in recent years.
But it’s back. And it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere — at least not this year.