Duke Basketball: Blue Devils have no excuse for another 3-point fiasco

If the Duke basketball players don’t limit their 3-point attempts in their rematch with Syracuse tonight, their season’s first losing streak may be imminent.

Common misconception: The Duke basketball team sometimes has no choice but to attempt more than three Krispy Kreme boxes worth of 3-pointers in a game.

Twice this season the No. 1 Blue Devils (23-3; 11-2 in ACC) have acted like unsupervised rec leaguers by jacking up more than 36 long-distance prayers, thereby practically begging possessions to end with donuts for point totals.

Both such performances resulted in home losses. The first came in overtime to Syracuse on Jan. 14 when Duke went 9-for-43 from beyond the arc. The second was by 16 points to No. 8 UNC on Wednesday night when Duke went 8-for-39 from deep.

Yes, it’s true the Blue Devils were in desperation mode against the Tar Heels after trailing by double digits several times in the first half and facing a 22-point deficit at the first media timeout of the second half; however, the launching of 3-pointers was not the best solution — as anyone who glanced at Duke’s season percentage from deep could have predicted.

Yes, it’s also true the Blue Devils had open 3-point shots in the first meeting against the Orange; however, they didn’t have to settle for those shots — their 43 attempts from deep were more than any other team against Syracuse all season, and the eight squads that have beaten Syracuse (19-8; 9-4 in ACC) have averaged only 22.8 attempts from deep on their way to their victories.

With a rematch against the Orange set for 6 p.m. today on ESPN — this time in the Carrier Dome and without the services of freshman forward Zion Williamson, who is still recovering from a knee sprain he suffered 30 seconds into the UNC game due to a shoe malfunction — Duke must avoid the temptation to settle for the type of shots that it has been atrocious at knocking down overall this season (the percentage has remained consistently low, even dating back to the three-game Canada Tour in August).

Inconsistent and inadvisable launch angles. Often off-line. Too far. Not far enough. Nothing but air, rim, or backboard.

Simply put, more times than not, the Blue Devils’ 3-point attempts appear to be way off from the time they leave their fingers.

Tough to trust.

Not naming names, but one player has missed his last 23 attempts from deep. Another is 4-for-20 across his last five outings. There’s a guy sporting a 2-for-10 current stretch. The most frequent outside shooter is a combined 9-for-33 during the last three games.

Just downright dismal as a team. To the tune of what is on track to be by far the worst season percentage (currently 30.6, which ranks 328th in the NCAA) in program history while still averaging the second most attempts per game (24.6) of all teams in program history (the 2000-01 national champion squad launched 27.1 per game, justified by its connecting on 38.5 percent of its attempts).

Again, 30.6 percent while averaging 24.6 attempts. And 29.2 percent in conference play (ranks 14th out of 15 teams) while averaging 24.5 attempts.

Those numbers have to be typos. Unfortunately, they’re not.

It looks ugly. It smells bad. It feels sad. It tastes sour. And it sounds like the team hasn’t been listening to what Ball Durham has been advising against since literally months before the season ever started.

It’s not that Duke shouldn’t shoot 3-pointers at all — after all, they’re vital to keeping defenses honest. It’s just that the team has no business averaging more than 20 attempts.

What makes even less sense is that during the rare occasions the Blue Devils have had hot hands from downtown this season, they have excelled at limiting their attempts. In the two games that they have shot better than 50 percent from 3-point land — during road wins at Notre Dame and now-No. 3 Virginia — they finished with 19 and 21 attempts, respectively.

Duke must realize, especially when the shots aren’t falling, that no matter what style of defense it is facing, plenty of other options exist that would keep its 3-point attempts in check — even when Zion’s inside presence isn’t available and even against a zone like that of Syracuse.

Look, it’s not like Duke is having a disappointing season — obviously, with a No. 1 seed in sight and only three losses, the season is largely a success thus far. It’s just that a disappointing ending is likely looming if the most glaring problem isn’t soon fixed.

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And the solution should start with the healthy freshmen starters tonight.

Freshman guard R.J. Barrett is a sensational driver and finisher who — when in his Maple Mamba mindset — can find easy buckets in the paint no matter who tries to stand in his way.

Freshman point guard Tre Jones is not a gifted scorer, no matter where his attempts come from, but he’s at least slightly more trustworthy when lofting floaters and shots off the glass in traffic than he is from beyond the arc.

Freshman forward Cam Reddish should also drive more often instead of forcing up so many contested and off-balance 3-pointers — if he did, his respectable 34.0 percent from downtown could be far closer to what would be a delectable 40 percent.

So what the Blue Devils as a group really need to see is that when they settle for 3-point shots, they feed the confidence of their opponents, who savor the treat of watching them slash their own chance of winning by heaving what is so often their trash from a distance of more than 20.75 feet.

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Duke can certainly win a national title, but its best chance to make that happen — other than praying for the soon return of Williamson to full strength — is by going ahead and extinguishing the 3-point dumpster fires that have the potential to be season-enders come March.

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