NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Duke, Temple Still Doing Their Own Thing : Both Teams Rely on Discipline and Defense but Go About It Differently

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. —  When Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski speaks of discipline, he means something he expects his basketball players to impose upon themselves. And when he speaks of defense, it is almost unfailingly man-to-man.

When Temple Coach John Chaney speaks of discipline, he means the sort that drives his players to rise for predawn practices and to follow his rules. And when Chaney speaks of defense, it is mainly of Temple’s rather unusual 2-3 matchup zone.

With the game that will send one of them to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s Final Four approaching, representatives of Duke and Temple spoke Friday of the ways in which they are the same, and the ways in which they are different, and of what each will have to do to beat the other.

Today, they will meet in the East Regional final at the Brendan Byrne Arena, the winner advancing to Kansas City, Mo., and the Final Four next weekend.

Duke, which is seeded second here and went to the Final Four just two years ago with a team led by Johnny Dawkins, is operating, as it normally does, with no curfew and no training rules.

“A lot of our discipline is understood,” said Quin Snyder, a junior guard.

For Temple, the discipline comes straight from the top, under a doctrine Chaney says he learned from his stepfather--separate and unequal.

“I’m the only one allowed to get crazy and I’m the only one allowed to curse and have antics,” Chaney said. “The players are not allowed to.”

That was evident during top-seeded Temple’s victory over Richmond in a semifinal game Thursday. With Temple leading by a wide margin, Mike Vreeswyk tried a behind-the-back pass, but ended up with a turnover, one of only five Temple committed in the game.

Vreeswyk immediately realizing his offense, turned his back to Chaney, who behind him was stomping and shouting, “Mike, Mike, don’t you ever!”

Each of these teams has its own style, but the effect is similar--great defense, disciplined play.

And although each is certain it will have to deal with the particular challenges the other team presents, both believe the battle, to some extent, is against the game.

“The major thing is to put the focus on Duke,” Krzyzewski said. “We have to create an atmosphere where the team is very relaxed, and does what Duke can do.”

Nor will Temple try anything new against the Blue Devils.

“Our pattern of success should have been established back around October 15,” Chaney said. “We have to have a balanced outlook with the fact that the bigger challenge we have is not the opponent but the game of basketball itself.”

Duke will have to counter Temple’s match-up zone, a defense the Blue Devils have not seen often.

“We’ll have shots, but they won’t be there long,” said Snyder, Duke’s point guard. “We’ll have to try to penetrate and to distort the zone any way we can--run stacks down low, screen and penetrate. We have to get them to react to where the ball is.”

Temple will attempt to slow Duke’s inside players--not only Danny Ferry, the Blue Devils’ 6-foot 10-inch junior forward, but also Robert Brickey and Kevin Strickland, who both have been scoring well lately. Brickey has made 15 of 19 shots in three tournament games, and Strickland is averaging 20.6 points a game in the tournament.

The task will fall particularly to forward Tim Perry and 6-10 center Ramon Rivas, who will need to avoid the foul trouble he encountered against Richmond.

For Duke, the biggest defensive challenge will be guarding freshman Mark Macon. That job will be Duke defensive specialist Billy King’s.

But besides Macon, Duke also will need to keep wraps on point guard Howard Evans and Vreeswyk, who like Macon, are three-point threats. All this, of course, without letting go of the inside defense of Perry and Rivas.

Duke was successful in keeping Rhode Island beyond three-point range in its semifinal victory over the Rams, limiting them to just three attempts, more than six below their average.

Krzyzewski seemed certain of at least one thing. If Duke is to win, it will have to be because of what Duke does well.

“When I think of Temple, I think of a team that’s solid,” Krzyzewski said. “They’re not going to beat themselves. I think we’re getting there. It may sound crazy after 33 games to say we’re still a developing team, but it’s true.”

Temple and Duke have not met since 1969, but the teams’ games against a common opponent this year have drawn some attention.

Duke beat North Carolina three times this season, all in close games. Temple beat the Tar Heels once, by 17 points.

“We don’t look at common opponents--that thing, we beat them but they lost to him,” Vreeswyk said. “I don’t think that has anything to do with it.”

Although they are not close friends, Krzyzewski and Chaney saw each other last month at a press conference in Atlanta, after which Chaney wrote to Krzyzewski.

“He dropped me a note, wishing us luck,” Krzyzewski said. “I don’t know if he’s going to retract it or not.”

East Regional Notes

John Smith, who broke his hand in Duke’s semifinal win over Rhode Island, will not play today (Channel 2, 10:30 a.m., PST), or in any other games if Duke wins. Smith, who scored 12 points in the first half, apparently injured his hand by striking it against the basket support. Said Coach Mike Krzyzewski: “He took a charge and got the call. I don’t know if it was his first charge call or what, but he punched the support. He says he punches things a lot when he gets excited. I sure don’t want to be around him at a party.”

Temple’s Howard Evans, who had been slowed by back spasms but played all 40 minutes against Richmond, practiced with the Owls Friday at 8 a.m. . . . Temple did not arrive back at its hotel after Thursday night’s game until about 2 a.m. because of the drug-testing procedure. So the 8 o’clock practice session was, by Temple standards, a late one.