Man, aren’t you glad its basketball season?? I am. No matter what in life ails you or gets you down it is nice to have that constant. Duke Basketball.
Today we got our first look at Duke in a game that actually counts albeit against an inferior talent. Presbyterian came into Cameron probably not expecting to pull out a win but to possibly gain knowledge about themselves and where they are as a team. They probably won’t face a much tougher game this season. Duke would handle the Blue Hose with relative ease, coasting to a 113 to 44 victory. We can only glean so much from a game like this but with so many freshman and players not used to prime time minutes there was a lot to watch for and observe.
What is apparent is that this is not the same Duke team that lost to Mercer (obviously). The entire mindset is different as is the approach. This team is an attacking team and can attack in a multitude of ways. While last years team relied on 2 players for the most part, this team has a multi-pronged offensive monster.
Duke has slashers this year and that coupled with a true low post scoring dynamo in Jahlil Okafor should help to keep Duke in games where the shots are not falling.
I’ll keep it short with another game tomorrow but a couple of bullet points to consider going forward:
1. Can Winslow keep being the x factor on offense? His attacking leads to good things, his rebounding and ability to dribble and run the floor will keep the pace good for Duke no matter what point guard is on the floor.
2. Quinn Cook was a very good shooter tonight going 5-11 overall and 4-10 from three point range is pretty darn good. He seemed to take his role and run with it. Leading the offense at times and at other times being the designated shooter.
3. Can Duke bigs stay out of foul trouble?? Amile Jefferson had 4 fouls, Marshall Plumlee 3 and Jahlil Okafor only 2 in this game but teams going forward are going to gun for Big Jah and try to saddle the freshman with fouls.
4. How will the defense look A) on short rest and B) against better talent. The alertness was there, the willingness and crispness was there for most of the game. It will be interesting to see how they respond to more game pressure.
See Adam’s Post-Game Thoughts on Duke-Presbyterian here. http://wp.me/p2hlvj-27t
