Three Duke basketball greats for Wendell Moore to study right now
By Matt Giles
With another chance ahead to reach Duke basketball stardom, Wendell Moore must fine-tune his game, and he should begin with a deep dive into the games of three Blue Devils who came before him.
Sticking with an ongoing series — find the link to the Matthew Hurt version at the end here — it’s time to take a look at what all Wendell Moore needs to improve upon before next season. We’ll do so by looking at a trio of former Duke basketball players who excelled in areas that represent the 18-year-old’s primary shortcomings.
Before we get to those names, though, let’s briefly touch on Moore’s mixed results as a freshman in Durham. The 6-foot-6, 213-pound small forward out of the Charlotte area finished the Blue Devils’ 25-6 campaign with averages of 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 0.9 steals. His shooting percentages were good, bad, and ugly: 80.6 percent from the charity stripe, 41.6 percent from the field, and 21.1 percent from beyond the arc.
Top highlight? Hmm, maybe we should ask Dean Dome patrons. Yes, regardless of what Moore does from here on out as a Dukie, his game-winning putback at the buzzer in overtime to stun North Carolina faithful on Feb. 8 will live forever as the program’s best 2019-20 moment and one of the all-time Duke-over-UNC memories. No doubt about that.
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In order to help us delve into his weaknesses, though, we need to examine the strengths of three Duke basketball greats who are each similar to Moore in one way or another. While none achieved retired-jersey status, all three were four-year weapons who shined in vital roles on successful squads at some point across Mike Krzyzewski’s first four decades at the helm. Now, let’s do this chronologically, starting with a back-to-back national champ…