White beat Blue, 44-39, during the Duke basketball team’s preseason scrimmage on Friday night, but how did each member of the squad perform on a 100-point scale?
The following individual grades from the Blue-White Scrimmage on Friday night are based on the performances of each Duke basketball player compared to what was expected from each entering the game. We’ll start with those from the winning White team and continue with those from the Blue team on the next slide.
Zion Williamson
14 points, 7-of-11 shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers
If this was a dunk contest, Williamson would have scored “100.” His throwdowns — to no one’s surprise — came with so much force, which will surely help to demoralize future opponents. Despite his rim-shaking highlights, though, the freshman sensation missed all of his shots from the outside, leaving him something to work on.
Grade: 95
Javin DeLaurier
10 points, 4-of-6 shooting, 2-of-4 from three, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
One of the best surprises from the scrimmage came in the form of DeLaurier’s stroke from beyond the arc. Although the sample size was small, his shot looked far improved from last season, which could be an asset in the future to a team whose weakness is likely to be perimeter shooting.
Grade: 91
Tre Jones
8 points, 4-of-8 shooting, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 turnover
Jones did a solid job of directing the offense in his debut in a Duke jersey after missing the Blue Devil’s three-game Canada Tour in August due to injury. However, the freshman point guard did have a couple of moments where he did not pay enough attention to surrounding defenders, indicating he has room for improvement with his court awareness.
Grade: 90
Joey Baker
6 points, 2-of-2 shooting (both from beyond the arc), 2 assists, 1 turnover
Another nice surprise for the Blue Devils was the outside shooting of Baker. While the freshman didn’t contribute much other than his two threes during his 11 minutes of play off the bench, he gave Duke basketball fans reason to be hopeful that — when his teammates find him open — his shot can be relied upon in the future.
Grade: 85
Alex O’Connell
4 points, 2-of-6 shooting, 0-of-4 from three, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
The Blue Devils will definitely need some of O’Connell’s threes to drop in the future. But that didn’t happen on Friday night. Despite his cold hand, though, the sophomore guard crashed the boards effectively and had some nifty passes while not making many mistakes during his 19 minutes on the floor.
Grade: 82
Antonio Vrankovic
2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist
Vrankovic had an active start to the game, including a tip-in, a block, and an assist in the first three minutes. After that, though, he did not contribute much to the action despite playing 16 minutes.
Grade: 78