Better Laettner Than Never for Duke : Blue Devils: College player of the year finally gets going during the second half as Grant Hill helps ease the pressure.

In the first half Monday night at the Metrodome, the NCAA tournament’s all-time scoring leader missed six of eight shots.

He scored five points.

He made seven turnovers.

His coach pulled him in and out of the game.

Christian Laettner was in a funk.

“I was obviously frustrated,” Duke’s All-American center said later. “I was throwing the ball away and hurting my team. It’s all right if you miss shots, because you can get back on defense and stop them.

“But my turnovers were leading right to their buckets.”

Was he pressing?

“I didn’t press enough,” Laettner said. “If I was pressing, that would mean I was putting my head down and going to shoot the ball. What I was doing was not attacking enough and looking to pass.

“My team would much rather have me make a move right away and shoot the ball. I wasn’t doing that, and I was making bad passes.”

But not after halftime.

Laettner returned to form during the second half, scoring 14 of his game-high 19 points, taking five of his seven rebounds, making no turnovers and leading the Blue Devils to a 71-51 rout of Michigan in the NCAA final.

The victory gave Duke its second consecutive title.

“I was glad that Christian kind of snapped out of it early in the second half because I know that, personally, I was running out of gas,” said Duke point guard Bobby Hurley, the tournament’s outstanding player. “That just shows what a great player he is, what a clutch player he is, because that’s when we needed him most--in the second half.”

Coach Mike Krzyzewski pulled Laettner out several times during the first half.

“When a player isn’t playing like he normally plays, no matter who he is, you try to help him out in a variety of ways,” Krzyzewski said. “We subbed him a lot more so we could talk to him on the bench.

“We talked softly, harshly, emotionally, trying to get feedback from him to put him in better positions (on the floor). Probably we didn’t do a good job (strategically) of helping him. We were spending all our time trying to do other things. In the second half, we had more of a plan, and I think he was more emotionally prepared.”

At halftime, Laettner tried to forget the first half.

“You can’t put the weight of the world on top of your shoulders at that point in time,” he said. “You just have to go out there and keep playing and, hopefully, things will start going a little better for you.”

Laettner took an over-the-shoulder pass from Hurley on Duke’s first possession of the second half, scoring on a driving layup at the end of a fast break to wipe out the Blue Devils’ one-point halftime deficit.

The next time down, he went to the top of the key, took another pass from Hurley and scored on a three-point shot.

His confidence was back.

“In the second half, I finally got an easy bucket, which started getting things going for me,” Laettner said. “And then Bobby made another really great pass and I was able to get a three.

“And then my teammates got a little more confidence in me.”

Also, with teammate Grant Hill cutting through its defense, Michigan could no longer devote so much attention to Laettner.

“Grant’s penetration was the key to the game,” Krzyzewski said. “Grant created some things and they quit double-teaming Christian. He can’t be stopped--at least in a collegiate game--one-on-one. And he was in a lot more of those situations in the second half.”

Duke’s lead was only 48-45 when Laettner drove, bobbled the ball, regained control and scored on a reverse layup to jump-start the Blue Devils, who converted on their last 12 possessions to outscore Michigan, 23-6.

At the other end, he made a steal, leading to a layup.

On Michigan’s next possession, Michigan’s Chris Webber took a rebound, but fouled Laettner while getting to the ball.

Laettner made two free throws and Duke’s lead was 54-45.

“We did a good job on him in the first half,” Michigan Coach Steve Fisher said, “but you can’t keep a good man down forever.”