Thursday night was a rough pill for the Duke basketball program fans to swallow.
The Blue Devils were a trendy pick to make the ACC Tournament final at the very least and potentially set up a third matchup with their rivals, the UNC Tar Heels. What happened was a bit more shocking as NC State, a team playing its third game in as many days, was able to oust Duke from the tournament in the quarterfinals with a 74-69 win.
Losing hurts, but this most recent loss had a familiar stench. The Blue Devils started slow, played lackadaisical defense, and didn’t get the 50/50 balls to win the game. Duke’s trio of starting guards went a combined 7/28, which will not cut it in March.
If Duke’s loss felt familiar, it’s because it was. In their losses this year, they’ve showcased the same things that ailed them last night. Physically, the defensive effort and energy seemed to be lacking.
Last night was no different. State played physical defense, and Duke often had many drives to the basket that ended in missed opportunities because the Blue Devils anticipated fouls or hoped to be fouled.
On defense, Duke was slow to cut off drives, and in transition, there was a considerable lack of effort as guys half-heartedly got back and barely attempted to stop the ball. Duke was beaten to the ball for rebounds despite having multiple players in the area.
In the previous game against UNC, Duke came out flat and could never recover as UNC raced out to a 15-4 lead on Senior Night. Effort, energy, and defensive pride plagued Jon Scheyer’s team then.
That brings us to this question: Is it a player or coaching issue?
The truth is it lies somewhere in the middle. Jon Scheyer is a competitive guy, but he’s not the fiery coach that his predecessor was. At least, not yet. However, this year, his team has lacked the edge to fight back in a game like last night’s ACC quarterfinal loss. Against a desperate team fighting for its season, Duke needed to come out and bury them early. They came out slow, and then NC State gained confidence. Duke weathered the storm and took a late first-half lead, but it was short-lived.
Even though Duke went into the half down three, NC State came right back out and went on an 8-0 run before the under-16 media timeout. This Blue Devils team never finds that extra gear in games when they need it. There is no outright vocal leader on the court for Duke, and it shows. As far as we can see, there’s no one to galvanize the troops amongst the players.
How does Duke prepare for this year’s NCAA Tournament? They need to figure some things out, that’s for sure. Maybe it’s from the player-led meeting that was supposed to occur when Duke returned to Durham after the ACC Tournament to help clear the air. However, having meetings like that on March 15th, a week before the season’s biggest games, is eyebrow-raising. Where was the urgency for the meeting following their second straight loss to their biggest rival?
Scheyer is not without faults, either. He and his staff don’t have the most complete roster. Losing Dereck Lively and never finding a better option to play center via the portal is something he and his staff have to live with now. The lack of another functional big man to spell Kyle Filipowski and take pressure off of him defensively has impacted Duke’s defense and rebounding, too.
However, with the right draw and more effort from the guys in the locker room, Duke can beat many teams in the country in this upcoming NCAA Tournament. Will they? We’ll find out starting sometime next week.