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GREENVILLE, S.C. — Steve Wojciechowski dribbled at the top of the key Wednesday during practice at the Bi-Lo Center, feeding passes to the wings and high post just like he had four years earlier as Duke’s point guard.
Wojciechowski’s perspective of the game has changed quite a bit in that span of time, though.
Wojciechowski still threw in a couple of crossover dribbles just to show he’s still a capable ballhandler, but he has turned his attention to the inside game as Duke’s big-man coach.
Blue Devil center Carlos Boozer is having the best season of his career, and Wojciechowski deserves quite a bit of credit.
“He never has a down day, he’s always excited to work with you,” Boozer said. “We’re always excited to work with him because he always tries to make us better. He’s made a major contribution to my game.”
Boozer, a junior who will turn pro after this season, has put up solid numbers throughout his Duke career.
He averaged 13.0 points a game as a freshman and 13.3 as a sophomore, but the 6-foot-9, 280-pounder would quietly shrink out of sight in some games.
Boozer has played with more consistency this season and averages 18.4 points while shooting a remarkable 67 percent from the field.
Perhaps the biggest improvement, though, is that the soft-spoken body bruiser has finally made his voice heard.
Boozer has become a vocal leader for the Blue Devils, a sign that Wojciechowski has served as an influence.
“I think he’s shown Carlos how to use passion and get excited and talk while he’s out there,”Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Added Wojciechowski, “This year, Carlos has really prepared himself to be a great player. His daily effort has been terrific, consistent, and the results are in his performance in games.”
The turning point for Boozer came last season, when the Duke coaches questioned his desire to become a great player after he had a particularly poor outing.
As the team watched film of the contest before practice, Krzyzewski stopped the tape and made a simple request.
“Coach told me to say ‘I can win.’ He was expecting me just to say ‘I can win,’ ” Boozer recalled, lowering his voice drastically.
But what followed surprised his coaches and fired up his teammates.
“I was really intense because I hadn’t played that well, and it was like“We can win!” Boozer explained, raising his voice and waving his arms to drive home the point. “It was all animated, and everybody got pumped up.
“It was kind of a breakthrough.”
Boozer suffered a setback near the end of the season when he fractured the third metatarsal in his right foot and missed six games, including the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Boozer scored only seven points in this year’s season opener against Seton Hall, but he’s been in double figures in 31 of Duke’s last 32 games.
During the last 11 contests, Boozer has made 84 of his 102 shot attempts, an 82-percent clip.
Naturally, Wojciechowski’s theory brings Duke’s perimeter play into the equation.
“I believe you create position where you don’t need a post move, where the pass creates the shot,”he said. “That’s why Carlos has shot over 80 percent in those games, because he’s getting such good post position and creating an angle to the bucket where his shot is a layup.”
But what about Boozer’s rare misses?
“My teammates do a fantastic job of giving me the ball to finish,” Boozer said. ”Sometimes I do go back and wish I could have made some of them.”
Boozer has more important things to worry about. He wants to remain focused on helping the Blue Devils capture a another championship, which is five wins away.
His leadership has already played a vital role in helping Duke earn a No. 1 seed heading into the tournament.
“Carlos has been a totally different person this year,” Duke junior Mike Dunleavy said. “He’s taken complete ownership of his role and this team, and it’s been such a big help.”
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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com
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