NCAA Basketball Duke Blue Devils

Duke Basketball Still a Favorite Despite Recent Hiccup

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By @Bigwoolf5

Duke Blue Devils, Mike Krzyzewski

Mark Dolejs-USA Today Sports

After Duke lost two games in a row, many in college basketball were wondering if maybe the Blue Devils were overrated. The quick answer is yes, they were a little overrated in that they had virtually no chance to finish the season undefeated in a top-heavy ACC. But since those two losses in a row Duke has come back and won two straight games, one on the road in Louisville, and a dominant performance at home against Pittsburgh proving they should still be one of the favorites to take home the National Championship at the end of the season.

During the two game losing streak Duke’s biggest problems were guarding the ball, and making shots. Since that losing streak Mike Krzyzewski has gone to a zone defense more often to not allow teams to be able to drive the ball as easily, and it has worked so far. As for the team not making shots, that is more a matter of missing open looks rather than taking bad shots, and you have to figure that trend will change because Duke has too many good shooters.

The Blue Devils began to make shots on Monday night in their win over Pittsburgh, and it all starts with Freshman sensation Jahlil Okafor. Many teams have decided that the best defense against Duke is to double team the big guy. The problem with that is that Okafor is an excellent passer and is able to find the open man when he is doubled. Okafor himself hasn’t been guilty of missing shots as he is second in the nation with his 68 percent from the field, but he is the key because he requires so much attention that other players will get wide open looks.

Prior to Monday night players other than Okafor had struggled mightily in ACC play. Justise Winslow is 5-29 from the field in his last four games, and Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon, and Tyus Jones were all shooting below 40 percent coming into Monday nights game.

Winslow and Cook continued to struggle on Monday, but Jones and Sulaimon hit a lot of shots and combined for 35 points in Monday’s game. Yes, Duke has struggled recently, but they have too much talent to think that they will continue to struggle shooting the ball. Both Cook and Sulaimon have proven during their careers that they can and will hit shots. Jones and Winslow are both highly touted prospects and figure to break out sooner rather than later.

In no way is it a guarantee that the players around Okafor will start to perform better, but it would seem as though it is likely. The two-game hiccup is just that — a hiccup. It would be smarter to look at some of the wins Duke has had this year, like at Wisconsin, to figure out where they might end up come tournament time.

Duke is a very young team with room for improvement no doubt, but they only have two losses. This team is only going to get better, and it doesn’t hurt that they have arguably the best coach in college basketball history, and arguably the best player in the country to get them in a good place for the ACC and NCAA tournament. At this point there has been no evidence to prove this team shouldn’t be one of the favorites to cut down the nets come April.

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