Duke Blue Devils Christmas Wishlist

Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils are six days removed from their first loss of the year. They blew a huge lead and lost a game they should not have. A lot had to go the wrong way including missing 12 free throws and Texas Tech making every shot they attempted down the stretch.

Now, Duke had to ask Santa for some presents to avoid this same debacle from happening again. Let’s take a look at different things Scheyer and Co. need in order to accomplish their ultimate goal of cutting down the nets in April.

Duke Blue Devils Christmas Wishlist

Robin, Where Are You?

Cameron Boozer is nearly a lock for the National Player of the Year. He has been the most dominant player across all of college basketball this year and has shown no signs of slowing down. He is currently averaging 23.3 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists per game which is quite the lofty performance for a freshman. He is also a guy that consistently makes plays when they are needed most. In the Florida and Texas Tech games when things started to go in the wrong direction, Boozer was the one to right the ship offensively.

Boozer cannot do it alone though. All year, Duke has not been able to find a running mate for Boozer. Isaiah Evans is the most likely compadre. However, he goes long stretches without ever getting a shot off. The only other option based on current play-style is Caleb Foster. He needs to force his way downhill and use his elite athleticism to get into the lane. The issue is, once he gets there, it is hard to know what will happen next.

The other fringe option would be Patrick Ngongba. The issue here is Scheyer has been reluctant to play through the post as will be discussed later. Ngongba has elite touch for a big and crafty footwork. He and Boozer are dominant post players but the offense isn’t designed to operate that way.

Post Play Expansion

Duke spends 10 percent of their offensive possessions all year in post-ups. In these possessions they are elite with a 1.208 points per possession average. That is 96th percentile in the country. Additionally, they are shooting 60 percent from the field with an effective field goal percentage of 65.7. Quite literally, cannot say enough positive things about how good Duke is in the post. Part of that is because Ngongba and Boozer are elite passers and have elite footwork on the block as well.

Scheyer loves to utilize high post action or a series of flares and curls on the perimeter. That works well when you have elite shooters and cutters but Duke has struggled lately to consistently knock down shots. Against Texas Tech, Duke made seven threes in the first half and then was ice cold in the second half. Some of that comes from the mystery of where shots will come from. Another part of that is Duke has no one aside from Boozer that can penetrate and kick which is how you get open spot up threes.

Offensive Actions

Lastly, what are Duke’s options offensively. Play wise, you probably envision an Evans ghost screen with Boozer handling. You might also envision a Spain screen. Another potential vision is Boozer getting an X screen to establish himself on the block. A lot of these are quick hitting plays that can be relied on in a pinch but can they consistently manufacture points for Duke? Now, we are certainly nitpicking here. Duke is hitting 1.056 ppp which is very solid. However, they need to take another step forward.

Scheyer uses an NBA style where he creates matchups and space for his best players to then win in isolation. This Duke team only has one ball-dominant isolation player and that is Cam Boozer. It may take a bit of a change in style from Scheyer to create more offensive movement and to run true plays. This team would function well in a Dan Hurley style of offense. One with perpetual motion, tons of screens/ghost actions, and creates chaos for defenses. That would take a lot of pressure off of Boozer.

Last Word

By no means does anyone need to overreact to one loss. However, Duke probably was not quite as good as their record indicated previously. Never too high, never too low. This team has a ton of talent and will continue to get better. But there are clear and obvious ways the team will need to improve so let’s see what happens as ACC play begins.