Duke Basketball: Jack White’s shooting slump should have simple solution

When the Duke basketball team hosts Georgia Tech on Saturday, fans are likely to be watching for the probable return of Tre Jones; however, they should also be on the lookout for the probable return of Jack White’s swish.

The temperature in Jack White’s hometown of Traralgon, Australia, reached 112 degrees this month. Meanwhile, in the Duke basketball junior’s current city of residence, thermometers have dipped below freezing more than half the days since the start of 2019, mirroring the recent temperature of White’s shooting hand.

If White’s right hand could talk, it might argue that its frigid shooting percentage of late stems from it being accustomed to far warmer temperatures this time of year.

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However, this is White’s third winter in Durham, and more plausible explanations exist for the forward’s abysmal 4-for-22 clip from the field, including 1-for-18 from beyond the arc, across the Blue Devils’ past five games.

He appears to be overthinking his decision to pull the trigger while also appearing to overthink the mechanics of the one type of shot that he keeps taking over and over again.

The 3-pointer — almost always from the corner — accounts for 79.3 percent of White’s total field goal attempts for the season; that is the highest such percentage on the squad. And 100 percent of the forward’s makes from deep have come as a result of an assist; that is tied with sophomore guard Alex O’Connell as the highest such percentage on the squad.

Basically, in terms of his scoring contribution to the Blue Devils, the 6-foot-7, 225-pound co-captain provides spot-up shooting from about the same spot every time and the occasional dunk or layup, either in transition or as a result of an offensive rebound.

It’s not time for White to give up as a scorer or reinvent his stroke; after all, before the recent stretch, he had hit 41.1 percent of his 3-point attempts for the season and become Duke’s most reliable and consistent outside shooter.

But it is probably time for him to mix up where his attempts come from; his 3-point accuracy for the season has now slipped to 31.9 percent.

It’s time for White to relocate from the corner a little more often. It’s time for him to try a pull-up jumper or floater inside the arc — he only has one such attempt all season.

Even if he doesn’t make any of the attempts away from what used to be his sweet spot, those attempts may loosen him up and lead to the return of swishes from his sweet spot.

Just an idea.

Whatever the solution, the Blue Devils are counting on the soon return of White’s hot hand to take at least a fraction of defenses’ attention away from the four freshmen — particularly R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson, who have consistently been accounting for about 70 percent of the team’s points in recent games.

Eventually, if White continues his scoring drought — he is averaging 2.2 points across the past five games, dropping his season average to 6.1 — whoever is responsible for guarding him will focus instead on opportunities to double-team Barrett or Williamson.

Aside from that consequence, though, White’s low point totals seem to negatively impact the rest of his game. Despite his increased playing time of late, White has come away with a combined one block and one steal across his past four games (he was averaging more than one of each per game in the previous 14 games). Also, his rebounds have slipped a bit — his 4.8 rebounding average over his past four games, which included his seeing at least 40 minutes in two contests, has dropped his season average to 6.4.

But White’s woes shouldn’t worry fans. He works too hard and maintains too positive of an outlook for his recent slump to turn into a permanent problem.

Besides, the return of Tre Jones — the freshman point guard has missed the past two games recovering from an AC joint sprain to his right shoulder that he suffered in the first half of Duke’s home loss to Syracuse — should benefit the play of all the Blue Devils in the regular rotation. Jones’ passes are so crisp and so on time that they seem to instantly boost the confidence of the spot-up shooters who catch them.

ALSO READ: Tre Jones’ cryptic IG post might hint at his return

Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Friday morning that Jones is “probable” to be back in action when No. 2 Duke hosts Georgia Tech at noon on Saturday (on Raycom or the ACC Network).

Also probable: A sudden end to Jack White’s shooting slump.