Duke Overpowers Belmont 102-62 in First Exhibition

It’s a very easy thing to overreact to scrimmages, exhibition games, and the like, but one must also take into account that it’s October—and early in October. Duke scheduling Belmont at this time of year is a complete gift. While it looks like an overmatched lower-tier team and perhaps Duke’s win 102-62 would make one think that, Belmont is a well-coached squad with a head coach that was on Jon Scheyer’s coaching staff for a season and before that—the pros. Yes, he has built a new team at Belmont, but they are a team with a winning tradition and could very well win their league. The best part is they are the type of team Duke could face in a first-round game, a good shooting team that is completely unlike the majority of the teams they’ll see this year.

The Blue Devils cemented the outcome and truly took control of this game during the last minute of the first half up 39-25. Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje and John Blackwell combined for a 10-0 run, going 4-4 between them, giving the Blue Devils a 49-25 lead at the half.

Duke handled business down both Caleb Foster and Drew Scharnowski, who both could be starters depending on who you believe, but again, it’s still early. The Blue Devils and Bruins were both sloppy, totaling 33 turnovers between them, but as they say about homes, this Duke squad definitely has good bones. The defense was feisty and active for the Blue Devils, which is the exact thing you want to see at this point in the season. Dame Sarr and Deron Rippey Jr. could end up being 2 of the top on-ball defenders in the ACC and possibly the country—the combination of Sarr’s length and instincts and Rippey’s ability to anticipate and get low is going to confound opposing offenses this season. Duke also totaled 7 blocked shots in the game and did a really good job of guarding the rim even on occasion after being beaten. Duke’s height and length really showed out in the rebounding department, where they played to a 46 to 28 edge over the Bruins.

Offensively, the Blue Devils weren’t clicking on all cylinders, not that anyone thought they would this early in the process. They still managed to score 102 points and shoot over 50% from the field (53.1%); Duke also shot the ball well from beyond the arc to the tune of 44%. 7 different players made at least one 3-point shot, and 9 different players took them. That might be something to pay attention to going forward this season. There were occasions the ball stuck, and that is something they will work out, along with the number of turnovers. The one thing you can see is that the talent is there, the size is there, and the connectiveness is there.

As far as the player of the game, for me, it has to be a dual nomination of Dame Sarr and Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje; both were assertive on offense and very steady on defense. It’s not all about scoring for these 2; it’s the other parts of the game. Sarr had 3 assists, 2 steals, and 6 rebounds; Boumtje-Boumtje added 7 boards, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.

Takeaways

• Duke is big, really big.
• Defense is a priority.
• The depth, at least in October—even with 2 guys missing, feels legit.
• Offense, if it progresses as it should, might be the best Scheyer has ever had.

What comes next for the Blue Devils is another exhibition date with the new-look Tennessee Volunteers in Cameron Indoor Stadium on October 20th.

I don’t want to make a big deal out of an exhibition because I’m just not that guy, but it was nice to have Duke Basketball back; this team has the talent to do big things. I liked what I saw, even the things that I didn’t like, I think can be corrected—turnovers, Big Pat picking up fouls, and the occasional slip up defensively. So take everything with a grain of salt; those grains become less and less potent as we get closer to the real games and the competition starts to strengthen. As I said earlier, this team has good bones now let’s see what Scheyer can mold them into.