Against Duke, Middies Sink Like Pebbles : Robinson Gets Little Help; Blue Devils in Final Four, 71-50

They finally sank the ship Sunday that was causing all the fuss. Duke scuttled the rowboat flotilla, which was all Navy had to escort star center David Robinson, and after that it was like trying to sail a sieve.

The Middies disappeared from the NCAA East Regional with all hands. The Blue Devils, top-ranked and top-seeded in the East, jumped all over the backboards, led, 34-22, by halftime, and danced into the Final Four with a 71-50 victory at the Meadowlands.

The Duke student section, celebrated by modifying its famous “Die, Pond Scum” banner to “Die, Ocean Scum” for the occasion, and chanting “Abandon Ship!”

Any distraction was welcome, the game having effectively ended by halftime, when the totals were:

Duke--34 points, 34 rebounds, 11 of 16 baskets on offensive rebounds.

Robinson--15 points, 7-for-10 shooting, 7 rebounds.

All other Middies--7 points, 3-for-15 shooting, 6 rebounds.

How bad was it?

Let the combatants count the ways.

Robinson: “We’ve never been just pounded on the boards like today. . . . We played like girls inside today.”

Navy Coach Paul Evans: “We’re not quick enough to do much as far as pressing, trapping, man-to-man. When we got down, if we’d gone man (to-man), they probably would have gotten a layup every time. I’m not sure Mike (Krzyzewski, Duke coach) didn’t go to their stall to help us out.”

Duke center Jay Bilas: “Robinson looked really tired. I know he had a great day (23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) but he didn’t have any help to take the pressure off him. Against Syracuse, all he did was dunk lobs and shoot free throws. He got 23 points today but he earned them. You make him earn his points, shut down everybody else and go to Dallas.”

The game was competitive for the first 12 minutes, at which time Robinson had 11 points, having just dunked a rebound, and Navy led, 20-16.

Navy got one more basket in the half--a rebound by, who else, Robinson. Duke scored 18 points, 10 on rebounds. The half ended with still another rebound attempt by Johnny Dawkins rolling off the rim.

Krzyzewski: “We shot terribly in the first half. If we don’t rebound that way and play great defense, we’re losing at the half, instead of being up by 12 with a chance to make it 14.”

Evans: “They’re not big, height-wise but they’re huge. They’re like trees and they’re not real slow. They go to the boards real tough.”

Bilas, a graduate of Rolling Hills High School, is 6-8, 225. Mark Alarie is 6-8, 220. Sub center Danny Ferry is 6-10, 230. Krzyzewski even used his No. 3 center, Martin Nessley, who is 7-2, 260, if only marginally ambulatory, perhaps just to make a point.

Alarie: “Any time you play zone, there’s a tendency not to block out. That happens to me when we go zone. We had four guys crashing the boards on every shot. Coming in with numbers like that, I think it frustrated them.”

Weary from a long campaign, facing a superior force, the Navy sank beneath the horizon. Robinson drew two fouls in the first eight minutes of the game. Whether emotionally drained, physically exhausted or desirous of renegotiating, he became a rumor of what he’d been.

After getting nine blocks against Syracuse and eight against Cleveland State, he had two Sunday. He missed a reverse dunk in the second half. When he drew his third foul, he only shrugged, as if in resignation.

Later he was asked if another Syracuse-like effort by the Middies was possible.

“It was possible,” Robinson said. “Coming off the last game (Cleveland State), that one hung over a little. We didn’t have a real good practice the day before the game. I guess you could foresee it.

“They’re so strong and you could just see us shying away. . . . I was just in the wrong spot so many times. Every time I turned around, they had an offensive rebound.”

So that did it for Navy seniors Kevin Butler (1-for-5 shooting, 8 points, 6 rebounds) and Kylor Whitaker (5-for-12, 10 points).

The Duke students held up a banner that read: “Our Seniors Don’t Have to Serve After Dallas.” The Dukies accorded Robinson the ultimate compliment, though. When Evans pulled him in the final minutes, they yelled nothing derogatory but stood and applauded.

“I was rooting for you before this,” said Evans to Krzyzewski late Sunday afternoon, “and I’ll start again next game.”

NCAA Notes Johnny Dawkins, the 6-2, 165-pound guard with the 40-inch vertical leap, had 28 points and 7 rebounds, giving him 63-17 in the regional games and was named MVP. Other members of the All-East team: David Robinson, Mark Alarie, Kylor Whitaker and Cleveland’s State’s Ken McFadden. . . . And Dawkins on Robinson: “I know he altered at least two of my shots today. One of which I think I threw almost over the backboard.”