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Duke Basketball: What Cam Reddish and Tre Jones will bring to Duke

By Kevin Connelly

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 31: The mascot for the Duke Blue Devils performs against the Louisville Cardinals during the Midwest Regional Final round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 31, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 31: The mascot for the Duke Blue Devils performs against the Louisville Cardinals during the Midwest Regional Final round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 31, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Basketball roster is loaded, but there we two key pieces that we did not see during the Duke Canada Tour who should be absolutely sensational this season.

The No. 1 and No. 2 players, R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson, in Duke’s 2018 recruiting class put on an absolute show in Canada a few weeks ago and they were without two of the fellow freshman and key pieces to this Duke team in Cam Reddish and Tre Jones.

According to ESPN, Reddish is the No. 3 incoming freshman into college basketball and what Reddish can bring to the table is something the Blue Devils might desperately need, shooting.

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While at Westtown High School, Reddish was obviously the best player on his team and that sometimes hurt the Duke bound forward because he would often hunt his shot too much and be forced into ill-advised shots.

However, with the talent around him, Reddish should flow nicely into the Blue Devils offense with many play makers around him, he won’t be under too much pressure to put up big time numbers.

Reddish plays as another small forward for this Duke team but like many others, he has the ability to bring the ball up the court on the fast break.

One concern about Reddish is his body language when things don’t go his way.

All freshman in college basketball are going to hit a rough period, and it’s how that player responds that is going to be key.

In high school, when things got rocky for Reddish he would normally sulk and pout instead of putting his head down and trying to get back in the game.

Duke fans can take comfort in this; if Cam Reddish displays poor body language on the court after a bad call by a referee or a play doesn’t go his way, Coach K will pull him out of the game faster than you can blink.

I’m very sure that Reddish has matured and I don’t think he will bring these bad habits to Duke and Cam Reddish will evolve into one of the best and most important players on this Duke team.

As for Reddish’s fellow freshman that did not play in Canada due to injury, Tre Jones.

Fans will remember Tre Jones’ brother Tyus Jones as the Duke point guard in 2014-15 as the Blue Devils marched on to win the National Championship in 2015.

Tre, however, does not plan on playing in Tyus’ shadow while he is at Duke, as Tre is ready to create his own path and legacy in Durham.

While Tre Jones might not be the best player Duke has on the court this season, he definitely might be the most important player for the Blue Devils this season.

Jones provides Duke with something they haven’t had in a few seasons, a true point guard.

Coach K has been forced into having other players bring the ball up and while this season the Blue Devils are loaded with ball handlers, having the ball in Jones’ hands in the half court offense is going to be key for Duke.

Not only will Jones be the primary ball handed in 2018-19, he also might very well be the best defender on this Duke roster. A lock down defender is something the Blue Devils have also been missing since the graduation of Matt Jones.

Listed at six-foot-two-inches and 183 pounds, the Apple Valley, Minnesota native is ready to take control of this Duke offense and be an extension of Coach K on the court at all times.

Even though we have not yet seen Cam Reddish and Tre Jones on the court in a  Duke uniform, the duo will round out an excellent recruiting class in what could be a sensational year for college basketball in Durham.

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