Duke Goes Gator Hunting

March 20, 2000 / 5:18 PM EST / CBS/AP

Duke's philosophy about taking open shots is simple: Take them whenever they come, no matter what the shot clock says.

And that could help the Blue Devils against Florida.

The Gators press fullcourt, hoping to set the tempo and wear teams down. Most opponents are happy to get the ball across halfcourt.

The top-seeded Blue Devils (29-4) clearly have bigger plans when they meet the fifth-seeded Gators (26-7) in the East Regional semifinals Friday night in Syracuse, N.Y.

"We've been a very loose team on offense this year," Shane Battier said Monday. "We're not going to be gun-shy. A team like Florida that uses the press is more effective against a team that isn't used to having that openness, that relaxation on offense."

Duke's 281 3-pointers are 12 shy of the school record set last season, and all of coach Mike Krzyzewski's players have the green light to stop behind the arc let if fly. That's true even after a 2-for-17 outing from 3-point range in a 69-64 second-round win over Kansas on Sunday.

"If you get an open look, it is going to be in a quick situation, you are going to have to knock it down to get Florida out of its press," Chris Carrawell said. "It's exciting, the kind of game you want to play in.

"If we get them out of their press they are going to have to go to something else and I think we can play a better halfcourt offense than them."

Florida coach Billy Donovan used the press last season when the Gators visited Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was a disaster: Duke won 116-86.

Krzyzewski plays down that result, saying both teams are much different. However, the Blue Devils will run drills this week that include shooting on the run to attack on offense.

"We're not licking our chops," said Krzyzewski, whose team's 88.3-point scoring average leads the nation. "We respect their press because they do it all the time and we don't break presses all the time.

"We usually do fairly well against the press because we attack the press to score, not just to get it across halfcourt to set up an offense. That means we have to shoot on the run. That's OK, we just have to get in that frame of mind."

Krzyzewski said a press can change the balance of a game.

"When you press you're better able to use more people," Krzyzewski said. "Kids get tired, so when they sub they're subbing for conditioning.

"Sometimes in the middle of those TV timeouts you see four new guys coming in. It can work on you mentally."

Duke goes only seven-deep, but TV timeouts are longer during the NCAA tournament. That, Krzyzewski said, is an advantage for Duke.

"The 30-second timeout is 45 sconds - at least," he said. "So, instead of standing you can sit them down."

Then again, Krzyzewski prefers to keep his team standing to send a message to the other team.

"Or we'll go out on the court just a little bit early (during the timeout) to let them know psychologically that we're not tired," he said.