In their first game of ACC play, Duke played absolutely terrible and fell to Boston College 89-84. They came out unmotivated and uninspired to take on the Golden Eagles on the road.
Thank heavens that’s out of the way.
With this young group of guys, it’s almost better to get that first loss out of the way early than to have the pressure of being undefeated in say late January or February.
Now, the game.
Duke came out not ready to play. Boston College was the complete opposite and ready for the challenge of facing the number one team in the country. They doubled Marvin Bagley in the post and killed him when they got him in the pick and roll. Ky Bowman dropped a 30 spot on the Blue Devils’ heads and Boston College’s guards combined for 76 of their 89 points.
Duke’s defense is a serious issue. In every aspect it’s a liability. Boston College would get weak side buckets because Duke has no clue how to defend it. In transition, guys either aren’t getting back or are simply getting beat back. In the half court, Duke is constantly switching when they shouldn’t be, ball watching and over pursuing on shots and passes. They’re young, they’re athletic but they need a lot of work on defense. We’ve been saying these same things after every game and it finally caught up with them.
On offense, Duke didn’t really have an identity. Bagley had a tough game but he still only had 11 shots. When the best player in the nation only takes 11 shots in a game, that’s a recipe for failure. Grayson Allen only had 14 points on 5-20 shooting including 1-9 from three. His hustle was there but his offensive game was back in Durham. Gary Trent was the only shining light on offense. He had a career high 25 points on 7-15 from the floor, 6-13 from three. He was the one keeping them in the game the whole time.
Duke’s offense needs to have a back up plan now that teams know doubling Bagley is the key to beating the Blue Devils. Trevon Duval has no jump shot and Boston College sagged off of him. Duval is a tremendous slasher when he gets a head of steam but teams are going to force him to shoot more often now. It doesn’t help that Bagley and Allen had tough offensive games and I think this game was an outlier but it still needs to be addressed.
Next: Taking Stock of Duke MBB Heading Into ACC Play
Trent was the MVP of todays game but honorable mention has to go to Javin DeLaurier. He came up with key offensive boards and put backs to keep Duke in the game. It was one of those games where his stat line won’t wow you but he played a key role in Duke staying in the game before fouling out.
The main focus is cutting down the nets in April. This doesn’t do much to take Duke out of the drivers seat of that goal. It’s something we will probably look back on in a few months as a turning point for this Duke team.