Duke Basketball: Zion Williamson’s looming boredom threatens Blue Devils

The college game no longer seems to pose a challenge to its all-time greatest freshman, and that may pose a threat both to his game’s growth and the Duke basketball team’s ultimate success.

Many fans, even some of the Duke basketball variety, are growing bored by all the hype surrounding Zion Williamson.

Who can blame them?

By noon each day online, seemingly thousands of new headlines include his name (yes, Ball Durham takes partial responsibility for this). Also by noon each day, ESPN has already replayed his latest aerial wonders while repeating his height (6-foot-7) and weight (reports range from 275 to 285 pounds) enough times to make fans wonder why the network doesn’t just create a channel called ESPNZion.

Following No. 2 Duke’s 66-53 home win over Georgia Tech on Saturday, Bleacher Report even advertised for readers to subscribe to a constant stream of all things Zion.

It’s just a bit too much sometimes; besides, Merriam-Webster has officially run out of adjectives to describe him.

Meanwhile, Williamson’s game continues to expose a couple truths:

A) The NCAA doesn’t deserve him because it is unwilling to pay him, it won’t allow him to profit from his own likeness, and it doesn’t have another player sufficiently able to challenge him, and B) The Blue Devils far too often settle for 3-point attempts they rarely make — on the verge of dropping below the 30-percent mark for the season while averaging 24.6 attempts per game — instead of just unapologetically feeding the most efficient offensive player in the history of the college game.

ALSO READ: NCAA owes Zion Williamson a public apology

Maybe coach Mike Krzyzewski instructs his team to sometimes not pass the ball to the Spartanburg, S.C., native — and for Zion to sometimes pass after he does receive it — because his scoring moves are so successful that they are becoming a bore…

1) He catches it. 2) He spins, bullies, or shake-and-bakes his way past an inferior defender — or group of inferior defenders. 3) He dunks it, scoops it, or banks it. Every now and then, 4) He misses it. But misses usually just lead to 5) He pads his offensive rebounding total and repeats step No. 3.

Williamson, who scored another ho-hum 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting against the Yellow Jackets, is now averaging 21.7 points (a conference-leading 25.0 in ACC play) while making better than 70 percent of attempts from the field.

He’s also averaging 9.2 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.8 blocks while playing just 28.1 minutes per game.

Speaking of averages, though, Williamson’s average quantity and width of post-game smiles appear to be dipping.

And that noticeable dip in outward displays of joy — he just doesn’t joke around for the camera as often as he once did — could be a sign of looming danger for the Blue Devils.

Maybe it was just a snapshot of his somber mood that stemmed from having to rehash Duke’s slow start against Tech, but the only time the 18-year-old seemed to flash a genuine grin to reporters in the locker room Saturday was when one reporter asked him about the self-lacing Nike sneakers that the Blue Devils had a chance to debut on the college level.

Speaking of sneakers, Williamson’s own line awaits.

All he has to do is stop playing college ball to sign the eight-or-nine-digit check. All he has to do is stop playing college ball to reap the financial rewards of his name and face appearing all over TV and the internet.

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All he likely has to do is make it another five months uninjured to be the top pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. And all he has to do is make it another eight months until he starts facing the level of competition that will properly challenge his game.

ALSO READ: Zion Williamson risks $1 billion by still playing for Duke

All of this, no matter what he says, is likely weighing on his mind.

In the meantime, all Duke fans can do is cross their fingers and hope that winning a national championship would mean as much to Williamson as he has repeatedly said it would.

So when Duke fans feel a temptation to complain about their boredom from all the incessant hype surrounding Zion, they should just stop and think of the sadness they will feel when all the Zion talk no longer includes mention of the Blue Devils.

Williamson’s next chance to show he no longer belongs on this level comes on Monday at 7 p.m. when 17-2 Duke plays at 11-9 Notre Dame (on ESPN).

Sad reminder: At most, Williamson only has 21 games left as a Blue Devil.