Duke Basketball: Heels will continue to feed Luke Maye in depleted paint

Luke Maye had a field day against the Duke Basketball team in the first matchup, and possibly without Zion Williamson, he will have another one in the Blue Devils’ depleted paint.

Back on February 20, Luke Maye went for 30 points and 15 rebounds against the Duke Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium, albeit without Zion Williamson.

Williamson’s status is still in question, but if Zion doesn’t play on Saturday night against the Tar Heels Luke Maye will have another field day in Duke’s depleted paint.

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Once Zion went down on February 20, Duke had no one that was able to step in and guard Maye on the perimeter or down in the paint.

While Marques Bolden has the strength to compete with Maye in the paint, he is an improving perimeter defender, but isn’t quick enough to try and defend the Carolina senior when he steps outside the 3-point arc or even outside the paint.

Javin DeLaurier is just the opposite of Bolden. DeLaurier is quicker on the permitter, but his inability to properly defend without fouling in a major deficiency when trying to guard Maye outside the paint.

Inside of the paint, DeLaurier just wasn’t strong enough back in February to try and slow Maye down and it’s tough to see that changing in just about two weeks.

The same thing goes for both R.J. Barrett and Jack White if they are switched onto Maye.

Both have the quickness to defend him on the perimeter, but when Maye backs his way into the paint, he is just too strong and powerful for either Blue Devil.

The one wild card in this situation is Antonio Vrankovic.

Vrankovic has the size and build of Marques Bolden and while Vrankovic certainly won’t be able to defend Maye on the perimeter, maybe he could put up a fight in the paint while just giving his teammates a breather.

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Vrankovic would also give Mike Krzyzewski the ability to put a player on the floor that could pick up three fouls in five minutes or so and have no consequences for the regular rotation as the Blue Devil senior has never seen consistent minutes in his four years at Duke.

Trying to defend Luke Maye will certainly be a tough challenge in Round Two for this Blue Devil team and the world will see how Duke will try and matchup with North Carolina on Saturday at 6:00pm ET on ESPN.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the North Carolina Tar Heels.

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