Duke Basketball: Tre Jones’ streak without a break may not soon end

Regardless of what may happen if it ever happens again, Duke basketball point guard Tre Jones may eventually need a breather.

The good news is Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski trusts and treats his starting point guard as if the freshman is more of a well-oiled machine than a human being. The bad news is Tre Jones is as much human as the rest of us — and oiling him up would be pointless, not to mention a little strange.

According to Captain Obvious, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound native of Apple Valley, Minn., has lungs instead of pistons. And no matter how healthy those 19-year-old lungs may be, like all other body parts — heck, even engine parts — they would benefit from occasional breaks, especially when considering how often Jones operates with his pedal to the metal.

However, Feb. 5 was the last time Jones watched from the bench during a game. That night, during now-No. 1 Duke’s 80-55 home win over Boston College, he played 37 minutes — surely, the Blue Devils would have still been OK if he had only played about 34.

Then came the start of the toughest six-game stretch for any college basketball team this season. Now four games into that stretch, here’s how the “Minutes” column on Jones’ row of the box score has looked for each:

• 40 minutes during the intense 81-71 win at No. 3 Virginia on Feb. 9.
• 40 minutes during the granddaddy of Duke comebacks — down 23 with 9:03 to play — which ended with a 71-69 win at then-No. 16 Louisville on Feb. 12.
• 40 minutes during the 94-78 home win over N.C. State a week ago — again, a minute or two of Jones on the pine surely wouldn’t have spelled a loss for the Blue Devils.
• 40 minutes during the 88-72 home loss to No. 8 UNC on Wednesday night.

The loss to the Tar Heels included Jones missing 10 of his 11 attempts from the field, including a 1-for-6 mark from beyond the arc. He committed three turnovers, marking only his fourth game with at least that many across Duke’s 23-3 start — second time across Duke’s 11-2 start to ACC play. He also committed three fouls, tied with three other games for his season max.

Here’s the point: The point guard may need a breather from time to time.

Keep in mind he’s only a little more than a month removed from an AC joint separation in his right shoulder and has not once played less than 35 minutes in any of the eight games since his return.

Sure, Jones also needs — like everyone else associated with Duke basketball — the return of fellow freshman Zion Williamson (the runaway favorite for all National Player of the Year honors is listed as “day-to-day” while recovering from a Grade 1 knee sprain he suffered 30 seconds into the UNC game after his foot busted through his apparently defective shoe, but he has been ruled out for Duke’s game at Syracuse on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPN).

Across his 160 straight minutes without a break, Jones is 3-for-15 from long distance, which has dropped his 3-point percentage to 25.9 for the season.

His attempts in recent games look like all they’re missing — other than more practice and work on his form — are a fresh set of legs.

Also across the past four games, Jones’ 19 assists compared to seven turnovers, while remarkable as those numbers may seem, has dropped his assist-to-turnover ratio to 4.3 for the season — that still leads the conference by a longshot and is on pace to set a program record. Yes, part of the minimal drop has to do with the level of competition during the stretch.

Again, though, some of his miscues seem to be a result of his legs and lungs screaming for a moment on the bench.

But one body part of Jones that won’t scream for a break is his mouth — his competitive fire and longtime Duke fandom won’t allow it.

Coach K also won’t likely recognize the floor general’s need to come out from his demeanor or intensity on defense — after all, he had four steals against the Tar Heels, and his 10 steals across the past four games have bumped his season average to a smidgen more than two per game (after failing to name him as a semifinalist in January, the Naismith committee announced him as one of 10 finalists this week, along with Williamson, for its National Defensive Player of the Year award).

So is it possible that Jones is an advanced machine that can continue to operate without ever shutting down for a minute?

It’s possible, but it’s starting to make this Duke basketball fan tired just to watch.

More from Ball Durham

• Duke basketball: The architect behind digital dominance
• Duke basketball prioritizing frontcourt prospects in 2025
• Duke basketball: Unmasking the hate for the Blue Devils
• Duke basketball: Countdown to Craziness lands another huge visitor
• Duke basketball fills final open scholarship

That being said, the thought of Jones being out of the game, even for a second, makes this Duke basketball fan fear what may happen as a result.

And it’s possible — make that probable — that a similar fear is responsible for Krzyzewski never taking him out thus far during Duke’s toughest stretch. Besides, the best option to take over at the point while he’s out is fellow freshman starter R.J. Barrett, who has only sat six minutes himself during the past four games while twice playing all 40 minutes.

The next best option to give Jones a breather, junior backup Jordan Goldwire, plays a similar ball-hawking defense to Jones but seems to be a better complement to Jones than a replacement for Jones — plus, Goldwire has an outside shot that may actually be worse than the average Duke basketball fan, small children included.

OK, so it’s settled: The Blue Devils, whose overall bench is one of their most glaring weaknesses, probably can’t afford to give Jones a break for another couple games, especially not until Zion returns.

Oh well, guess they’ll just have to try oiling Jones up after all and crossing their fingers his always-on engine doesn’t break down between now and March — three days after Saturday’s game at Syracuse, Duke plays at No. 20 Virginia Tech.