Duke Heads Into ACC Play With Some Key Questions That Need Answers

The Duke Blue Devils are undefeated at 11-0 as they head into ACC play. There have been some expected blowouts, some close games and even two incredible comebacks early in the year. Here are some things to ponder as ACC play gets started.

Being undefeated going into ACC play should have been expected by Duke fans and the Duke team alike. It wasn’t as easy as many, including myself, would have expected. The Michigan State game without Marvin Bagley was a 40 minute fight. Portland State put up a good fight. The comebacks against Texas and Florida in Portland. Battling for 37 minutes with Indiana. It’s been fun, at times strenuous, but it’s time to put those games behind us and look forward to the meat of the schedule.

Here are some of the things I’ll be looking for in ACC play.

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-How will Duke respond if Bagley gets in foul trouble? Marvin Bagley is a cheat code when he’s on the floor. Essentially unguardable with and without the ball and can get whatever he wants at the rim. He hasn’t really gotten into any foul trouble at all this season and when he went out with the eye injury, it took Grayson Allen scoring 37 points to beat Michigan State.

-Am I confident in Wendell Carter, Jr.? Maybe? Carter is phenomenal and he’s come a long way already in 11 games but his game is perfect to complement Bagley’s. I’m not sold yet that he can go out and win you a game like Bagley can. I hope I’m wrong but Dukes game plan changes drastically if Bagley’s off the floor.

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-Will we get 40 full minutes of locked in Duke basketball? We haven’t seen it yet. Luckily, the games where they’ve really fallen behind have been on neutral courts. Also luckily, most of Dukes toughest games are at home. They do play Miami on the road which is looking like their toughest road game outside of North Carolina, but we have yet to see a game against a tough opponent where they’ve dominated. This team is talented enough to do that against anyone.

-It’s good that they’ve played tough games. Getting punched in the mouth by Texas and Florida was a good teaching moment for this young team. ACC play is whole different animal though. When those wins keep piling up and that loss column stays at zero though, that target gets bigger and every game is the opposing teams National Championship game.

-How will this team respond to having the target on the back? Like I said, when you get further into the season and you’re still undefeated, every game becomes bigger and bigger no matter the opponent. They’ve responded well early but as the season goes on how will these guys respond to the pressure? I personally think this team has no pulse. They could be down 50 and not blink and make a comeback. Everyone is gunning for Duke. They’ll have to prove that they are the best team in the nation every single night.

-Defensive has been an issue early on. They get beat in transition easily as well as get caught ball watching a ton. This is something that needs to be addressed and worked on. They’ve gotten better as the season has progressed but it’s still something that can burn them. Usually it happens in the first half of games. It looks more like a lack of effort than it does fundamental defensive issues. In the second half of games, they seem to lock in and get the job done. They’re going to need to play a full game of defense and they’re going to need to do it soon.

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