Jack White on Defending Jordan Nwora: Attack Him
Louisville’s Jordan Nwora is averaging more than 20 points per game this season. Duke will be challenged to try to contain him.
“We’ve got to attack him,” Jack White said. “We can’t make it where we’re on the back foot, kind of like we were with Aamir Simms and Tevin (Mack) last game.”
Simms hit 10 of 15 shots for 25 points, and Mack had 22 on 10-of-14 shooting in Clemson’s upset win over Duke no Tuesday.
“We just kind of didn’t attack them, and we were beat from the start,” White said. “Juts come out and play our defense, understanding that no, we’re not the only one out there guarding him. We’re going to help. It’s five guys defending as one. We’ve got to be the ones that attack him, try to keep him from getting the ball or any clean looks, just make it a frustrating night for him.”
Duke also struggled against offense on Tuesday.
“Most of that just came from their zone,” White said. “We can’t let the zone stand us up like that. If anything, we should be looking to get stops on their end, then running back before they can set it up and try to get easy transition buckets. Otherwise, if they set it up, we’ve got to try to hit the middle and get some paint touches, not just kind of be standing up on the perimeter, not making any plays. We’ve got to be assertive on both ends.”
While Vernon Carey struggled against the Tigers, missing several jumpers, White isn’t worried about the freshman big man.
“I think he was settling a little bit (for jumpers), but we do know he can hit that shot. If he’s open and feeling good about it he should shoot it, and we trust he’s going to make it. But he’s dominant on the boards. He had four offensive rebounds on Tuesday. He’s working his ass off at both ends. … He just works and works. The strides he’s made, it’s incredible.”
