So after having some time to reflect on this iteration of the Champions Classic Duke vs Kansas I have to admit I came away impressed with both teams. Duke wrestled the game away from Kansas 78-66, but the most impressive thing about this game was the sticktoitiveness of both teams. Starting with Kansas, even without their leading scorer and potential first pick in the draft Darryn Peterson, Kansas took it to Duke in the first quarter (yes I know the game isn’t in quarters) of the game, going up by as much as 6 points by playing disruptive and opportunistic defense. Senior guard Tre White, who took on the scoring load for the Jayhawks, cooked the Blue Devil defense in the first half, shooting 5-10 for 15 points, White led the Jayhawks with 22 points. Duke was paced by Isaiah Evans’ 11 points in the first half on his way to 16 for the game. Cameron Boozer led the Blue Devils with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, including an impressive outlet pass leading to a fast break dunk by Isaiah Evans.
Duke took the reins of the game after going down by 6. The Blue Devils’ defense held the Jayhawks without a made field goal for nearly five minutes, before a layup by Kansas leveled the score at 30. The Blue Devils used a hook shot by Patrick Ngongba II and a fast-break dunk by Evans to increase the margin to five, 35-30, forcing a Kansas timeout. The Blue Devils pushed their lead to 8 off of an Isaiah Evans 3-pointer to end the half.
Duke controlled the game methodically in the second half, never relinquishing the lead, eventually pushing it to a 12 point margin. Obviously for Bill Self there are no moral victories, but to see his team fight – and they did fight, has to be a good sign going forward. For Duke, considering Cam Boozer did not play his best game and seemed tentative at time and Duke was still able to find answers on both ends when they needed to – against an older team – is also a good sign. There are still a lot of things this Blue Devil team needs to clean up on both ends:
Lost in transition: The Blue Devils so far this season have been fairly atrocious in their transition defense. A lack of both communication and location has led to run-outs. It hasn’t cost Duke in terms of wins and loses, hell they haven’t really given up too many fast breaks all season, but the execution has been lacking. Kanas did a good job of exploiting this to the tune of 13 points, the most Duke has given up so far this season.
Interior defense: Paint points went in favor of Kansas by a bucket, but overall, Duke didn’t do a great job of protecting their paint.
Cam Boozer will step up: It’s very easy to make seasonal assessments on a game or two, that’s the nature of the beast. We know that the average sports fan, and even some people employed by actual news outlets, are slaves to the moment. Any true student of the game knows that development is a straight line and if you are everything you are going to be from the moment you step onto a college campus then why are you there? Development is a big deal and something that clearly excites Jon Scheyer about Cam Boozer. Scheyer remarked,
“I thought Cam had 18, 10, and five, and I still don’t even think he played incredible, that’s the thing that’s really exciting. He made some key plays, like the rebound in the first half with the outlet to Isaiah [Evans]. I thought he did a great job putting pressure on the defense. They had a double, Pat shaping up, Malik shaping up. We got some good stuff there. But I think there’s more to be had. I think that’s the exciting part. I thought he did a really good job. This place is different, playing at MSG, it’s different. I thought he did a really good job handling that.”
Having these teachable moments on tape against high level competition should pay dividends for Jon Scheyer’s team. I would expect Duke in November to looks a lot different from Duke in January or February.