Duke basketball: Once again, nation’s two best players are Blue Devils
By Matt Giles
Two Duke basketball players should now be the frontrunners to wear the crown as the king of the 2019-20 regular season.
Last season, Duke basketball freshman RJ Barrett took home the USA Today National Player of the Year Award. And top honors from all other national outlets went to his then-roommate Zion Williamson.
Now, once again, two underclassmen in Durham have shown throughout No. 1 Duke’s 6-0 start that no other team in the country boasts a better player than either. Before detailing the stellar play of these two Blue Devils, though, let’s examine why some of the preseason favorites among national media are not quite on par.
Sure, UNC guard Cole Anthony has been prolific on offense, averaging 22.8 points across the Tar Heels’ 4-0 start, but the freshman has also committed 3.5 turnovers per game (a mediocre assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.3). Plus, his team’s four wins consist of three over local ho-hum North Carolina squads and one over recent ACC cellar-dweller Notre Dame (last week, the Fighting Irish had to squeak out wins over Presbyterian and Toledo).
Memphis center James Wiseman might be spectacular; of course, we won’t begin to know again until at least Jan. 12 as a result of his 12-game suspension. Marquette guard Markus Howard is an elite scorer, but after losing by 16 at unranked Wisconsin, the unranked Golden Eagles were nearly on the wrong end of an upset at home against unranked Robert Morris.
Meanwhile, Louisville forward Jordan Nwora has put up the kind of lofty stats folks figured he would, but he’s done so in wins against six cupcakes (including the season opener against ACC foe Miami, a team that is now coming off back-to-back 20-point losses). And Seton Hall guard Myles Powell has been good for roughly a point per minute but was unable to lead the Pirates to a win against their only notable competition thus far, No. 3 Michigan State.
Speaking of Michigan State, guard Cassius Winston — most experts’ pick to be the nation’s best — has displayed remarkable resilience after losing his brother to a horrific accident on Nov. 9. And we’ll find out on Dec. 3 how he fares against the revenge-seeking Blue Devils.
But for now, the guard Winston beat in last season’s regional title game is the unquestioned leader of a team already sporting a trophy and a couple of big-time victories inside Madison Square Garden (the season opener over then-No. 3 Kansas and Friday night over underrated Georgetown to win the 2K Empire Classic). So let’s first take a look at Duke’s elite floor general and then dissect the Blue Devil who is in a tie with him as the NCAA’s top dogs at the moment…