Three players that must step up for Duke in absence of Wendell Moore

Joey Baker

Building off of a potential Alex O’Connell breakout, the man that stole some of his minutes was Joey Baker, and Baker has the chance to cement himself as the ‘Sixth-Man’ of the Blue Devils in the weeks without Wendell Moore.

Starting with the game on Wednesday night against Georgia Tech, Baker will most likely be the first to receive a bulk of Moore’s minutes and then it is up to him to take advantage of that extra playing time.

In his sophomore season, Baker is averaging 6.6 points per game and could be viewed as Duke’s lone consistent threat from 3-point range, shooting 41.5 percent from behind the arc.

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In late November in a win over Winthrop, Baker had his first breakout game and since then the North Carolina native has received at least 15 minutes in every game and it’s safe to assume that might rise to 20 minutes per game without the Swiss-Army Knife in Wendell Moore.

Joey Baker has the ability to extend the defense out to the perimeter which would allow the major playmaker, Vernon Carey Jr., to continue to dominate in the paint.