Two of the top offenses in the country will meet on the floor of Madison Square Garden this weekend when Duke and Illinois square off in an exciting late-season, non-conference contest.

Before things get started, let’s take a look at Illinois, which is in the midst of a minor rough patch, dropping six of its last 10 games: thoughts on a unique defensive approach from Illinois, the pick-and-roll game of Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois’ 5-out offense and some of the similarities in terms of scheme between the two teams.

Deep Space

Illinois has designed its defense to guard ball screens with drop coverage — placing the screen defender, usually the center, below the level of the screen. This is something that several analytically-mindful programs use: Creighton, High Point, Purdue and Alabama, among others. Brad Underwood’s team takes this coverage to the extreme with how deep it positions the screen defender. This player is more than a step or two below the level of the screen, though. They’re under by several feet, often hanging back with both shoes in the paint while the screening action takes place above the arc.

Out of this “Chin” pick-and-roll possession from Michigan State, Illinois must defend two ball screens set by MSU big man Jaxon Kohler (0). The first comes for Jase Richardson (11) with about 21 seconds left on the shot clock. Tomislav Ivisic (13), Illinois’ 7-foot-1, 255-pound center, sets up shop near the foul line, while Kylan Boswell (4), a fire hydrant-like defender at the point of attack, fights over the top. The midrange shot is there for Richardson, but he doesn’t take the bait; he won’t settle for an off-dribble look this early in the shot clock. Instead, the ball is passed out and eventually cycles back to the right side, where Frankie Fidler (8) launches into the second ball screen action with Kohler. Ivisic has both feet in the lane while Fidler has yet to even cross the 3-point arc. As Fidler dribbles off the pick, Ivisic back pedals, sinking further into the paint. Eventually, Fidler is forced into a tough runner, which is contested from behind.

The goals associated with this type of deep drop coverage are straightforward: take away the paint and rim; guard the action 2-on-2, thus allowing the three other defenders directly outside of the action to stay home on shooters and prevent easy kick-out passes; and force the ball handler into taking tough, inefficient two-point attempts in the midrange.

Similar to Duke, Illinois is one of the tallest teams in the country, routinely deploying lineups that feature three guys 6-foot-9 or above in the frontcourt at the same time. They lean on their collective length to amplify this tactic. So far, the numbers back up the approach.

Illinois ranks Top 15 nationally in defensive effective shooting (45.5 eFG%) and two-point percentage (44.6 2P%) — as does Duke — per KenPom. According to CBB Analytics, only 27.4 percent of the field goal attempts against this Illinois defense have come close to the rim (inside of 4.5 feet), which lands in the 81st percentile in the country. Moreover, opponents are shooting just 32.0 percent on 2-point attempts that occur in the paint but not at the rim (outside of 4.5 feet), one of the best numbers in the country (98th percentile).

This is an impressive statistical profile for a defense that (somewhat surprisingly) doesn’t block many shots. Underwood’s club, despite its impressive size, ranks 167th nationally in block rate (9.4 percent). Instead, the team’s rim protectors defend with verticality — hanging in the paint and contesting shots with two hands in the air. Freshman PF/C Morez Johnson (21) is a real deterrent in the restricted area.

Johnson, the team’s best source of rim protection, is currently out, however, due to a wrist injury he suffered against Michigan State, which occurred when he was undercut while successfully blocking a chasedown shot in transition. This likely means more minutes at the 5 for Ben Humrichous (34.6 3P%), which means Duke must be ready to handle him as a pick-and-pop target.

By avoiding an overly aggressive approach to blocking shots, Illinois can lower its foul rate. Ivisic has averaged just 3.2 fouls per 40 minutes this season. Illinois' defense is among the Top 50 nationally, boasting a free throw attempt rate (FTA/FGA) of 27.1 percent.

In general, the further down the floor a screen defender is, the longer the offense should wait before making a decision. Patience is key in these situations: when to drive, when to shoot, when to pass. If the defense is in drop coverage, it's best to wait longer into the possession or drive before making a move. The approach changes when the screen defender is higher up or blitzing; in those cases, the offense should look for a quick decision, pass to an open teammate and exploit the defense while it's still adjusting.

It was fun to watch Dylan Harper (2), the No. 2 prospect for the 2025 NBA Draft, navigate and problem-solve on the fly against Illinois’ deep drop in the recent matchup with Rutgers. Harper did an excellent job keeping his defender stuck on his hip and attacking the space — either forcing the defensive 5 to make a move or driving at them with his combination of strength and playmaking craft, including this Euro-step finish.

An essential element of deep drop defense is that the guard/on-ball defender must stay connected to the driver, being physical without overdoing it. It's a fine line to walk. Boswell is quite good at handling these spaces, but Harper is just a special guard creator.

Sion James and Kon Knueppel are both rugged drivers who can shoot, pass and make plays off of a live dribble. Those two will have responsibilities to create offense in the paint in these types of 2-on-2 scenarios against U of I’s drop.

The outcome is different on this possession as Rutgers transitions from a “Stack Out” set into a Chin pick-and-roll (a back screen into a ball screen) for Ace Bailey (4), another projected Top 5 pick in this year’s NBA Draft. Once again, Ivisic is at the foul line as Bailey crosses the 3-point threshold. Bailey is unable to turn the corner on Humrichous (3) while Ivisic closes down the paint and denies a potential pass to the roller.

This approach also keeps the defensive 5s in the lane and in good rebounding position. Illinois’ top two centers, Ivisic and Johnson, each have individual defensive rebound rates above 21.5 percent, which is rather good. As a team, U of I ranks No. 20 nationally in defensive rebound rate, clearing 74.3 percent of missed field goals.

With the commitment to staying home on shooters, only 30.1 percent of field goal attempts against Illinois’ defense this season have come from beyond the arc, ranking No. 3 nationally in defensive 3-point attempt rate. There’s a massive delta between this number and Illinois’ 3-point rate on offense: 47.2 percent, which ranks Top 30 in the country. This is one of the ways Illinois tries to win the math.

The tradeoff here, however, is that this type of scheme doesn’t lend itself to turnover creation. Illinois ranks outside the Top 350 nationally in both turnover rate (12.9 percent) and steal rate (6.2 percent). Still, Illinois will live with that if it means forcing the offense into tough, off-dribble shots in the midrange — only 43.5 percent of the field goals against this defense have been assisted (No. 22 nationally).

Of course, a defense can’t take away everything. The deep drop coverage leaves a defense vulnerable to pull-up 3-pointers and pick-and-pops against a stretch PF/C.

The defense is highly leveraged here against the pop. Ivisic is closer to the rim than he is to Kohler, his assignment, when the ball is swung to the pick-and-pop shooter on the wing. Ivisic barely leaves the paint and Kohler drills an uncontested 3-pointer.

Duke doesn’t have a stretch-5, though Khaman Maluach has attempted three 3-pointers over the last three games. For Duke to get five shooters on the floor, Jon Scheyer must go with small-ball lineups that feature Cooper Flagg and Mason Gillis as the 4-5 combo, or Flagg and four guards/wings. Scheyer has been reluctant to feature those lineups, which makes sense given Duke’s depth at the 5. However, with Maliq Brown once again sidelined due to an injury, the Blue Devils could look to these small-ball groups outside of situational usage.

While Illinois tends to vary its coverages when the 4 defends ball screens, Underwood still prefers his power forwards to drop and play below the level of the screen. In contrast, Duke's defense usually switches most of these actions, with Flagg often switching onto opposing guards.

Here against Wisconsin’s continuity ball screen offense, Humrichous is the de facto 4, next to Ivisic. There’s a ball screen along the right wing; instead of having Tre White (22) and Humrichous — two like-sized players — switch, Illinois is in drop coverage. Max Klesmit (11) comes off the screen and gets an open off-dribble 3.

This could create some opportunities for Flagg, assuming Illinois plays drop when Flagg is used as a screener. In recent weeks, more ACC defenses have had their 4s play drop when Flagg sets a screen in order to keep the ball in front. This allows those defenses to avoid switching a smaller defender on Flagg, which is a problem. However, it also creates pick-and-roll or short-roll opportunities for Flagg.

The schedule has broke in an interesting fashion for Duke. During the month of February, the Blue Devils have played several teams that defend in drop coverage, including two programs — Cal and Stanford — that deploy a deeper drop, albeit ones that aren’t nearly as potent as Illinois.

Duke has reps and recent experience facing these types of defenses. Although the Blue Devils won't have Brown's short-roll playmaking, they still have plenty of weapons to create consistent offensive pressure.

This is the first play of the game against Stanford. Duke runs a back screen for Flagg, looking to get him a lob, but Stanford switches and takes away the potential pass over the top. The play’s next progression involves Tyrese Proctor swinging to Knueppel and then a ball screen from Maluach. As Knueppel dribbles right, Stanford center Maxime Raynaud is in a deeper drop. Worried about Knueppel’s jumper, though, Raynaud takes a step in the freshman’s direction. Like a goalkeeper caught off his line in soccer, Raynaud’s positioning leaves the net exposed; it’s an automatic read for Knueppel, lobbing to Maluach for the dunk.

The bigs for Illinois won’t do stuff like that. This is a team that’s very committed to its base approach.

Proctor, who has been in a heater since the calendar flipped to February, shot a combined 8-of-14 from beyond the arc against the ACC’s West Coast contingent. He can aggressively look for his pull-up 3-ball against drop coverage, or snap into two-man game with the 5 at the elbows or in the high post.

Duke did a nice job of utilizing its big men as handoff/high-post hubs against the drop in these two games. With the defensive center sunk below the level of the screen, the handoff is a powerful action; there’s no second defender that’s able to help out and challenge on these handoff actions. Instead, it puts a lot of pressure on the chase defender to fight over and around the screen.

All five players for Duke touch the ball on this possession as the action swings side-to-side, including four players who take at least one dribble. Flagg operates as both a screener and a ball handler, with the gears of Duke’s offense pumping around him. Cal does well to bottle things up, but with 10 seconds left on the shot clock, Flagg and Maluach snap into their two-man game: Maluach lifts to the elbow and it’s a quick give-and-go handoff action back to Flagg. As his defender goes under Maluach’s screen, this becomes simple for Flagg, who ducks behind and launches a 3-ball.

Over the last month, Duke has also moved Maluach around the floor and used him as a screener out of the corner — an effort create space against different drop coverages, which I wrote about after the UNC game.

Here, Maluach starts in the right corner as Knueppel pops out to the wing off a brush screen from Flagg. As soon as Knueppel catches the pass from James, Maluach sets a step-up ball screen. Knueppel turns the corner and engages the drop defender, UNC center Ven-Allen Lubin (22). With Knueppel putting pressure on the paint, Lubin comes up a step too high, exposing the rim for a lob and another rack attack by Maluach.

One of the other things Duke used against these defenses is to have Maluach start in the right corner and then set a flare screen for one of the guards cutting into empty space — with the opposing drop defender sunk closer to the rim.

Here’s the play in action. Knueppel pops out to the wing off of another brush screen from Flagg. James passes to Kneuppel. Instead of launching empty-side step-up pick-and-roll with Maluach, Knueppel fakes a handoff back to James, who then cuts from the right wing to the opposite side of the floor. Knueppel will move the ball back to Flagg and then immediately cut off another back/flare screen from Maluach — with the right side of the floor cleared out.

The advantage is created — now the offense must capitalize. The first option is to look for Maluach on the lob. If the defense collapses, the ball handler can skip it to the weak side for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. Or, as seen with Proctor against Stanford, the guard can create his own shot.

This is where the movement shooting of Isaiah Evans could feature nicely, too: flare actions that attack the drop coverage.

With several days to prepare, you can be sure that Scheyer and his staff will have a game plan ready to generate advantages in the half court against Illinois' tough defense. The thing you don’t want to do is get into a midrange chuck fest.

Orange Krush

On the offensive side of the ball, the leader of the pack is 6-foot-6 point guard Kasparas Jakucionis. Another projected Top 10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Jakucionis is coming off arguably the worst game of his career at Illinois: seven turnovers in 24 against at Wisconsin. However, Jakucionis is the engine that drives this offense.

He’s currently one of four high-major freshmen this season with 25 percent usage rate and 25 percent assist rate — along with Harper, Jeremiah Fears of Oklahoma and BYU’s Egor Demin, three other projected lottery picks. Jakucionis and Harper are the only two in that group to have effective shooting rates above 50 percent, though.

With his combination of size, speed, deep off-dribble shooting range and passing vision, Jakucionis is a load. Underwood turned the keys to the car over to his freshman point guard, and the Lithuanian has delivered one of the top offenses in the country. He’s a manipulative player, one who knows how to leverage his pull-up shooting abilities (9 3PA per 100 possessions, 33.9 3P%) to sway coverages.

Jakucionis plays fast, which can sometimes get him into trouble; however, his pace also puts a lot of pressure on opposing defenses with Illinois’ “drag” ball screen offense.

Here, he hits ahead to Humrichous and then sprints to get back on the ball, launching into the drag screen from Humrichous. For a moment, as Jakucionis dribbles off the screen, it looks as though he’s gathering for a step-back 3-ball, which causes Maryland center Julian Reese (10) to take a step out in his direction. This leaves the 6-foot-9 Humrichous (11.2 3PA per 100 possessions) open on the pop. Jakucionis pitches to Humrichous and now Maryland’s defense is in rotation. The ball swings right to left and lands in the hands of Jake Davis (15) for a corner 3.

This is another area where Duke could really miss Brown. If they need to start switching 1-5 against Jakucionis, Maluach can hang in space, be discruptive and keep the ship afloat. He’s an impressive and versatile defensive anchor. However, Brown is one of the best switch defenders in the country — regardless of position. Patrick Ngongba is mobile and strong. He’s been used lightly as a switch defender, though his primary coverage is drop. This part of the playbook doesn’t go out of the window, but it drops some of its higher-end upside.

One of the things that makes Jakucionis so tough to cover is his willingness to move without the ball, especially for a ball-dominant, pick-and-roll engine. He’ll routinely run a ball screen action, pass to a teammate and then dart in another direction — either opening himself up for a kick-out or sprinting into another pick-and-roll opportunity.

Illinois uses a variety of screening actions to get Jakucionis going. In an effort to toggle matchups and create quick advantages, there’s a lot of guard-guard screens from Boswell, White, Will Riley and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn. The guard screeners know how to handle this type of “hot stove” screen and get inside leverage against switches.

Three different players screen for Jakucionis within the span of five seconds on this end-of-half play. All of the action creates a switch that leaves Derik Queen (25) defending in space on Boswell, who takes advantage and gets to a step-back 3.

Boswell and Jakucionis are an interesting fit, though Illinois has made it work while playing a lot of lineups that feature, essentially, two point guards on the floor — one of whom isn’t a particularly strong shooter.

In a smaller sample, lineups with Jakucionis on the court and Boswell on the bench have been more efficient offensively; however, Illinois scores the ball at a good clip regardless of how those two are staggered.

• Jakucionis and Boswell on the floor together: 534 minutes, 116.1 points per 100 possessions on offense

• Boswell on the floor, Jakucionis off the floor: 806 minutes, 115.5 points per 100 possessions on offense

• Jakucionis on the floor, Boswell off the floor: 243 minutes, 125.3 points per 100 possessions on offense

Boswell is a shaky shooter (23.1 3P%), which is something for Duke to take advantage of in terms of help rotations, but he’s a snappy decision-maker. Plus, with his strength (6-2, 205), Boswell works well in tight pockets of space as a short-roll playmaker and connective passer.

Illinois will also put Jakucionis into different staggered ball screen (“77”) sets. Earlier in the first half vs. Maryland, Illinois flows into 77 drag action with Jakucionis and two forwards — Davis and White — as the screeners. Humrichous spaces to the weak-side corner.

Jakucionis pitches to Davis (12.5 3PA per 100 possessions), looking for a quick pick-and-pop opportunity. Maryland defends that, so Davis passes it back to Jakucionis, who immediately looks to attack, getting downhill into the paint and whipping an overhead pass to White. Queen closes out on White, which results in an extra pass back to Davis for a 3-point attempt.

Over 47 percent of Illinois’ field goal attempts this season are of the 3-point variety. They play fast and get up a lot of shots from deep. When Jakucionis is on the floor, Illinois gets up shots from deep at a slightly higher rate, though the difference is marginal: 48.5 percent of the team’s field goal attempts with Jakucionis on the floor have been 3-pointers, according to CBB Analytics.

Jakucionis shoots a lot of 3-pointers, but it’s his rim pressure and live-ball passing that create those juicy slash-and-kick 3-point opportunities. Jakucionis isn’t an explosive above-the-rim finisher; he has just one dunk on the season. That said, with his length and mid-drive deceleration — plus the threat of his ability to pass on the move lingering in the back of the minds of his defenders — Jakucionis is a clever downhill finisher.

He’s shooting just under 60 percent on 2-pointers this season, which is excellent for a high-usage primary initiator. A big piece of this is his rim finishing: according to CBB Analytics, Jakucionis has shot 77.9 percent at the rim — with nearly 72 percent of his rim finishes coming unassisted.

Jakucionis is also skilled at moving defenders with a variety of ball fakes — looking them off, faking a pass in one direction and quickly reloading to find a cutting teammate heading in the opposite direction.

His height is another advantage in this area, as Jakucionis can see and pass into lanes that many guards can’t access. Being an ambidextrous passer also works to his benefit — he can deliver hook and pocket passes with either hand. These skills make him particularly effective at setting up pick-and-pop plays with Humichrous.

Despite his strength and talents, defenses can throw off Jakucionis with physicality and pressure from multiple levels. He also has a tendency to jump into the air with a predetermined passing read, only to find that his target is covered, leaving him stuck mid-air and vulnerable to a turnover.

Given his workload on offense, opponents would be wise to put Jakucionis in the action as much as possible. For example, Michigan State runs wide pindown action for Richardson out of this Horns set. Before he even hits the screen, Richardson creates instant separation from Jakucionis with his quickness. Jakucionis then gets stuck on the screen while trying to recover back. The result is an open jumper at the elbow for a curling Richardson.

Jakucionis lacks elite athletic traits and, despite his size-strength combination, he struggles on the defensive side of the floor. That can complicate things for Illinois, which needs him to battle in rearview pursuit to fully unlock its deep drop pick-and-roll coverages.

He’s a really talented offensive player, but there are ways to exploit him when Illinois is on defense.

Playin’ the slots

Back in the preseason, I wrote a long piece about how Duke was shifting its 5-out offense around this season, borrowing techniques from NBA teams like the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks (Quin Synder). Scheyer moved his center from the middle of the floor out to the left wing, which helps open things up in the middle for Flagg, the team’s best offensive player and a roving mismatch weapon.

It's a versatile offensive foundation that can trigger a range of pick-and-roll actions, off-ball movement sets and cutting plays, while also transforming the 5 at the elbow or wing into a frontcourt facilitator.

Similarly, Underwood has utilized the 5-out spacing technique, sometimes called “5 Slot,” to open up his half-court offense for a dynamic freshman playmaker: Jakucionis.

Illinois will run several different actions out of this alignment, though there are some go-to reads to really watch for. One of those is “Get” action. This is simple pitch-and-chase pick-and-roll. Jakucionis will throw the ball to the 5 and immediately chase after it, snapping into a handoff and 1-5 pick-and-roll.

Flagg doesn’t make the initial pass on this possession, but Duke creates a similar result. James passes to Maluach and Flagg sprints into the handoff. As Flagg drives, Wofford’s defense collapses and he sprays out for an open Caleb Foster 3-pointer.

A small but notable ingredient in some versions of this recipe is the early flare screen set by the 5 for one of the guards or wings, which helps clear the middle up for the Get exchange.

Ivisic sets the flare for Boswell and launches into the pitch-and-chase action with Jakucionis, which eventually turns into a post-up. Ivisic has great size and good touch. After initiating things up top, he can work as a target down inside of 15 feet.

Duke will mix in a similar flare screen concept in early offense, although the Blue Devils also like to throw it to the player running off of the action. As Flagg initiates vs. Auburn, Foster runs up the left side of the floor and off of a flare screen from Brown.

Brown really is one of the best at making sure to communicate these flare actions with his teammates. Add it to the list of reasons that make him such an underrated and impactful two-way player. Exiting off of Brown’s screen, Foster gets into a gap and is able to finish with a reverse layup.

The Illinois offense can also initiate step-up screen actions by passing the ball to the middle of the floor, allowing the 5 to lift from the wing and set a quick ball screen.

This time, Boswell runs the play and is able to snake back for a layup against Maryland’s drop coverage.

This is one of the many ways that Duke has activated the Flagg-Maluach pick-and-roll combo this season, especially in early offense.

Illinois will also enter the ball into the 5 at the elbow and then run “Zoom” action for Jakucionis — a down screen (Boswell) into a handoff (Ivisic).

Against Kansas, Duke runs a very similar play. The ball is entered to Brown in the right slot, and the Blue Devils initiate Zoom action — Gillis screens for Kneuppel, who cuts toward Brown for a potential handoff. However, Brown fakes the handoff to Kneuppel and instead the action shifts to the left side, setting up a 3-pointer for Proctor.

When opposing defenses start to anticipate the Zoom action off the 5-slot setup, Illinois has counters: slipping the screen or running a little split cut. Here, the ball is entered to Ivisic at the left wing. In the middle of the floor, it looks as though White will set a screen for Boswell.

Boswell, however, has other intentions. He’s such a heady player. Instead of using White’s screen, Boswell splits and cuts backdoor. Ivisic hits Boswell on the move, and this is where the veteran guard shows off his connective passing. Wisconsin’s defense collapses on him, so he quickly kicks to an open Gibbs-Lawhorn in the corner for a 3-ball.

Our friends up north

While Jakucionis has become Illinois' standout freshman this season, he's not the only international prospect with NBA potential on the roster. Will Riley, a freshman from Canada who still holds a first-round draft pick grade, plays a key role as a secondary playmaker for Illinois.

A former blue-chip prospect, Riley (6-8, 195) is long but very skinny. His lack of strength and athletic limitations are noticeable. Defenders can bump him and knock Riley off his axis, leading to some awkward looking shots at the rim and passes along the perimeter. He struggles to attack the paint with a live dribble, which forces him to take a lot of midrange jumpers, runners and 3-pointers. According to CBB Analytics, only 18.5 percent of Riley’s field goal attempts have come at the rim.

There’s still plenty of clear upside with Riley, though. He’s capable of handling the ball and displays a smooth touch on a variety of shots, including impressive range from beyond the arc off the catch. Plus, he’s a sneaky skilled passer when placed in the right situations.

Riley benefits from getting to use Zoom action, which allows him to run off of a screen and gather some advantage and momentum before launching into the handoff/ball screen.

Additionally, Illinois has a couple of packages it likes to run for Riley. This starts with the team’s Horns series.

Illinois will space the sides of the floor with a guard in one corner and a stretch forward in the other — either Humrichous or Davis. Riley and the 5 will line up at the elbows. Jakucionis will enter the ball to Riley and then shuffle cut off a back screen from the 5. After the 5 screens for Jakucionis, he’ll lift to set a ball screen for Riley, who can look to attack.

During the Wisconsin game, Riley put together one of his best 1-on-1 moves this season. Before Humrichous could even get over to set the interior elbow ball screen, Riley spun away from the middle and got downhill for a nifty finish through contact.

Riley likes that little spin move off the elbow touch. Here’s the same thing at Rutgers with Harper guarding him: entry pass to the elbow, Riley spins downhill, draws two defenders and sprays out to Humrichous, who drills a wing 3 before Bailey blows things up on his closeout.

Later in the second half against Rutgers, Illinois goes to its Horns series and again plays through Riley. This time, though, after setting the back screen for Boswell, Humrichous pops out to the left wing — instead of coming to set a ball screen for Riley.

The pop action works as Humrichous hits another movement 3-pointer over Bailey, assisted by Riley.

The pop action off the back screen is a good concept for Illinois given its personnel, including multiple stretch shooters in the frontcourt.

Illinois creates the same look from its Iverson series on this possession. Boswell curls hard around the two screens as Jakucionis enters to Humrichous at the right elbow. When Boswell cuts to the rim off the second screen, Davis pops out and is open for the wing 3-pointer.

Like Duke, Illinois also uses zipper action to create playmaking opportunities for its wings.

Keep an eye on both Jakucionis and the Illinois bench. Both parties will gesture with their hands and mimic the motion of pulling an actual zipper up and down in the middle of their chests.

Riley will start in one of the corners and either run up the middle of the lane — off of two staggered screens — or he’ll get to the same spot, but do so by running over the top of the staggered screens.

Here’s this play in action. Riley zips up the middle of the lane. Boswell passes to Riley and Davis lifts up to set a chase ball screen. Riley drives and is able to turn the corner, compressing the defense and hitting a cutting Johnson for a layup at the rim.

Duke has run versions of this action all season for Knueppel. I’ve referred to it as Duke’s “L” series because that’s how the team signals the set during the game — the point guard will raise one of his hands and make the shape of the letter L. Simple, right?

Regardless, it’s been a go-to for Duke, especially when Scheyer wants to initiate pick-and-roll with Knueppel or get to high-post action with Brown. During the Kansas game, it produced one of Flagg’s top highlights from this season.

One of the things that makes the Duke-Illinois matchup this weekend so intriguing is the overlap in their schemes. Will that give one team a slight edge, or could some clever counters turn that advantage upside down?

Unfortunately, both teams are missing some key players. However, there will still be plenty of future NBA talent on the floor as two of the nation’s best face off on the legendary MSG court in primetime. This has the feel of an Elite Eight game — let’s hope it lives up to the hype.