Duke Basketball: Point guard Tre Jones is a winner

RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson are often the headlines for the Duke Basketball team, but perhaps the most important piece to the puzzle is Duke point guard Tre Jones.

Duke Blue Devil fans have seen in the past few years that not having a true point guard can be detrimental to even the most talented teams.

Past point guards like Trevon Duval, Frank Jackson, and Derryck Thornton all had short leashes in their one year in Durham. Mike Krzyzewski has always had a clear vision for what he looks for in a point guard to run his team.

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The last point guard Krzyzewski has had full trust in is Tyus Jones from the 2015 National Championship team. Tyus and Krzyzewski had a mutual respect and understanding for one another, which should prove beneficial for this year as Tyus’ younger brother Tre Jones leads the 2018-19 Blue Devils.

Tre seems to have picked up right where his older brother left off. Krzyzewski and Tre seem to have the same mutual respect and understanding that Tyus had during his one year on campus. If Tre has any questions about what Krzyzewski wants from the young point guard he has a great resource to utilize in Tyus.

Tre might not be the flashiest player on the team, but he is a great floor general that brings out the best in the Blue Devils. He isn’t afraid to do the little things out on the floor – even if they go unrecognized by a majority of the nation.

One of the little things Tre does extremely well is pressure the opposing point guard the full length of the floor. This pressure makes it hard for the opposing team to get into their offense. With the excellent ball pressure Tre is able to provide – this opens up opportunities for the other wings on the team to jump passing lanes.

Another thing Tre does extremely well is keep the high-octane Blue Devil offense rolling. Krzyzewski has mentioned that he wants to play high possession games and Tre is able to execute this strategy. He has great court vision and immediately pushes the ball down the floor on a make or miss allowing the Blue Devils to get easy buckets.

In the half-court offense Tre does not let the ball stick when it comes to him. He is constantly making the defense work and looking for opportunities to expose them. When he is able to expose them it usually ends up in a dunk or open three-pointer for Barrett or Williamson.

Against the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday night Tre was able to finish the game with seven assists and zero turnovers. He was able to succeed in the parts of the game that for the most part go unrecognized by the average fan.

These little things that Tre provides to the team is what makes him a winner. He is an unselfish player that is willing to do whatever possible to win. The Blue Devils next game is versus Army West Point at 1:00 PM ET on ESPN.

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