PHILADELPHIA— Welcome back, Carlos!
Um, why don’t you have a seat on the bench over there. We’ll get back to you later, maybe …
How wonderful for Duke starting center — former starting center, that is — Carlos Boozer.
What’s a guy to do? All Boozer manages over the course of a season is 14 points and 6.5 rebounds a game. He’s an important cog in a basketball machine, an irreplaceable part thanks to his 6-foot-9, 270-pound bulk.
Then he gets hurt, and his team goes 6-0 without him. Now that he’s better? Well, the Blue Devils hardly appear to need him any more.
“Carlos is in a position where he knows he’s going to be a little rusty offensively, but he can be a big body inside and give us a great presence defensively and rebounding,”point guard Jason Williams said.
If he’s on the court for long. When Boozer broke a bone in his foot against Maryland late in the regular season, head coach Mike Krzyzewski came up with a way to keep his team rolling.
Speed replaced the muscle. In came Casey Sanders, the tall, thin shot-blocking center. In came Chris Duhon, the fleet-footed guard with the devilish defense.
Beat Carolina with that lineup? No problem. Win the ACC Tournament? Easy. Get to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament?
You bet.
“We’re fortunate to have one of the geniuses in this game in Coach. When he (Boozer) went down, everyone predicted our demise,”Duke senior Shane Battier said. “What Coach did, I think he locked himself in a room with his staff, watched a lot of film and came up with a new identity for this team late in the year.
“We became a much quicker team. We found new life in that identity. We like who we are right now, and we look at Carlos as an added weapon for us.”
But only if he can fit in with his new-and-improved teammates. Obviously, he’s not ready yet — he’ll again be on the bench tonight when Duke takes on UCLA in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
The great news is, Boozer doesn’t seem to mind his new role of spectator all that much.
“I just want to be a presence out there — blocked shot, getting a charge, a couple free throws,” Boozer said. “Go out there and play as hard as I can play for as long as I can play.”
That’s a great attitude to take, because until an opponent comes along with a genuine inside threat, Boozer’s minutes could be few and far between.
Without him, the offensive tempo has increased to a feverish pitch, to where the Blue Devils scored 90 or more points in half their games — without their third-leading scorer. The defense has been most impressive, as opponents are averaging just 68 points a game. even in the fast-paced attack.
No opposing center has had a huge game, so it hasn’t mattered that the Duke front-line trio of Sanders, Matt Christensen and Reggie Love hasn’t, either.
If a big, bad center does come along, Boozer’s days on the bench will be numbered. He proved this year he can be a force: against Wake Forest, his final full game, he scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds; in just 23 minutes against Maryland, he had 16 points and seven boards, and his injury turned the tide for the Terps’ upset.
“When Carlos got hurt, we were kind of going inside,”Krzyzewski said. “We were developing a good inside presence and we still think he can give that to us. That’s not going to be a priority, that’s just something that has to come about.”
That’s what made sitting and watching so difficult for the big man, and why sitting and watching even more — despite the positive attitude — will be more difficult still.
“I was just starting to come into my own,”Boozer said. “That part was a little frustrating, but I think it turned out for the best. It made our team get closer. We need each other even more.”
The only question that remains is, how much do the Blue Devils need Boozer?
Steve Hanf