Duke Basketball: Why Zion Williamson should reincarnate floor-slapping

Duke basketball’s defense has taken a backseat during the most recent years of the one-and-done era, but a new freshman in Durham could change that by repopularizing one of the program’s most recognizable traditions.

Now that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has renamed the court in its Dean Dome to honor current head coach Roy Williams, it will soon be time for the 2018-19 Duke basketball team to figure out a way to put a giant dent in it.

The best way to do that — while also ramping up the team’s defensive effort throughout the season — is for freshman sensation Zion Williamson to pound the ground with both hands each time the Blue Devils prepare to play defense.

Sure, it’s true that the act of passion, which has seen its usage by Blue Devils decrease in recent years, can lose its impact when it’s overdone and regularly ends in failure.

More from Ball Durham

For instance, former Duke guard Steve Wojciechowski regularly slapped the floor, but the gesture — intended to inspire the defense while intimidating the offense — became a joke to opponents after so many zipped by him and tossed alley-oops that left Blue Devils posterized (cue footage of UCLA’s Tyus Edney and Ed O’Bannon laughing hysterically as they thumped Duke, 100-77, in 1995).

But who would dare laugh at Williamson if he decides to do it after each time he storms down the floor to play defense?

Consider that the arms of the 6-foot-7, 285-pound forward are so ripped that he must have to take a sewing kit with him everywhere he goes. Imagine his hands striking the floor with so much force that seismologists take notice.

Getting goosebumps yet?

If Williamson decides to embrace the art of floor-slapping, opponents are far more likely to cry than laugh.

And think about the frightened faces of Kentucky basketball players if they have to begin their season on Nov. 6 against the Duke Blue Devils in Indianapolis while feeling the floor shaking as Mount Zion keeps maxing out the possible amplification of Duke’s defensive trademark.

Not only would Williamson’s floor-slapping make the symbolic gesture cool again, but it would also serve as a catalyst to make playing defense cool again in the eyes of Duke’s current and future freshmen phenoms. Consider that during Duke’s Canada Tour earlier this month, Williamson landed on SportsCenter so often by showing that his most exciting offense comes as a result of energized team defense.

In other words, floor slaps will translate into steals that lead to further earthquakes resulting from Flyin’ Zion’s viral dunks.

Now it is believed that floor-slapping began at Duke in the 80s as a spontaneous decision by guards (Mike Krzyzewski thinks former point guard Tommy Amaker may have been the first) when the team most needed a defensive stop.

But why shouldn’t a squad have the mindset that it most needs a defensive stop every single time the other team has the ball?

Also, why not change up the tradition by having the team’s most powerful player slap the floor so hard that opponents are left demoralized?

If the most common sequence of events viewers see when they tune in to Duke basketball games this season is Williamson slapping the floor on defense and then shaking rims on fast breaks, chances are that the Blue Devils will be winning game after game.

And if Williamson decides to bring his two-handed floor slaps with him during his first visit to Chapel Hill as a Dukie, he might just leave tears on Tar Heels’ faces — not to mention that sections of Ol’ Roy Court will have to be replaced after the game.

So many goosebumps.