Taking a closer look at Duke basketball’s point guard battle

Who will earn the title as the next Duke basketball starting floor general?

Duke basketball has been fortunate enough to have outstanding point guard play over the last two seasons with Tre Jones. However, it is a new era for point guards in Durham with Jones now moving on to the NBA. If there is one thing we know about Duke, it doesn’t rebuild…it reloads. The Blue Devils have certainly reloaded and are ready to compete for the program’s sixth national title.

In the three years leading up to Tre Jones’ arrival, Duke struggled to find consistent production from the point guard position. Going back to the 2015-16 season, Derryck Thornton, who skipped his final year of high school to join the Blue Devils, never found his groove as a reliable point guard. Grayson Allen had to do most of the ballhandling duties and running the offense.

The next season, Thornton transferred out, and Frank Jackson, one of the nation’s top-rated point guards, came into the picture. Jackson had a good freshman season and showed he could be an explosive scorer, but he proved to be more of a combo guard than a traditional point guard.

The next season brought in Trevon Duval after Jackson declared for the 2017 NBA Draft. Duval had some good moments but never found his shooting touch and struggled with turnovers and decision-making at times. He also seemed to be more of a combo guard than a true point guard.

Tre Jones was one of the first true and reliable point guards since his brother Tyus in the 2014-15 season. But the 2020-21 Blue Devils should have no shortage of options when it comes to point guards.

ALSO READ: What made Tre Jones a great Duke point guard

The Duke basketball program welcomes in five-star Jeremy Roach, a 6-foot-1 do-it-all floor general. Roach was described by ESPN recruiting expert Paul Biancardi as a “speedy scorer.” He is a dynamic point guard who looks to push the ball and create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates in transition.

Roach’s five-star rating and overall resume would obviously indicate that he would be the starting point guard. But not so fast.

Duke also brings back Jordan Goldwire for his senior season. The Blue Devils also welcome in DJ Steward, who is not a point guard by nature but is a skilled combo guard who certainly has the ability of handling point guard duties and being a primary ballhandler. Wendell Moore also returns, and last year, at times, he assumed ballhandling duties to allow for Jones to play off the ball.

It will be fascinating to see how the Duke basketball staff handles the competition. Goldwire obviously provides more experience and reliability. For the most part, you know what you’re going to get from Jordan Goldwire, a relentless on-ball defender with good speed, length, and decision-making abilities. He also has the best understanding of the offense and how to operate it.

Goldwire does not have the scoring potential of Roach or Steward. But Goldwire has shown steady improvement offensively. He went from scoring 0.9 points per game in over 8.5 minutes per game as a sophomore to 4.7 points in over 24 minutes per game as a junior.

Duke has plenty of other guys to do the scoring so whether or not Goldwire has added to his offensive game won’t likely determine the type of minutes he plays. Goldwire understands his role and has thrived in it over the last two seasons.

It would certainly make sense to have the more seasoned Goldwire to be the Duke basketball starting point guard. He plays extremely hard and defends with a purpose.

The biggest question mark around Goldwire will be whether or not he is capable of becoming a consistent outside shooter. He struggled mightily in his limited opportunities both his freshman and sophomore year but hit 17 threes after only a combined eight his first two years. If Goldwire has improved his outside shooting, then it is hard for me to see him not in the starting lineup.

Goldwire will certainly not amaze you if you are just looking at the box score. Despite not being a real scoring threat, he has a great understanding of how to impact the game. Given how he played a season ago, it is hard to say that Goldwire did not earn the right to be the starting point guard this year.

My guess is that we see Duke play a lot of small-ball this year. That could include a two-point guard look.

Duke played Goldwire and Tre Jones together a lot last year. Both were terrific on-ball defenders, which allowed it to work. The Goldwire and Jones lineup was great for defense but at times was a liability for the offense.  We know that Goldwire can defend at a high level, but it remains to be seen if Jeremy Roach or DJ Steward can be impactful defenders for the Blue Devils this season.

Duke basketball lineups with two point guards might be the answer

If Roach and Steward prove to be the type of scorers they are heralded to be, then they would be able to provide the necessary scoring to allow Duke to play with two point guards.

Recently, the two-point guard lineup has become more popular throughout basketball. Duke played two point guards together in the 2015 championship season with Tyus Jones and Quinn Cook. The Toronto Raptors won the 2019 NBA Finals with two point guards playing together in Kyle Lowry and Fred Van Vleet.

Playing with two point guards allows for more speed to be on the court. It also is designed to keep the turnovers low and the assist numbers high. The turnover-assist ratio is key in becoming an effective offensive team. It is simple, with more playmakers on the court, the more opportunities for plays to be made.

Having multiple guys who can handle the ball, break down a defense, and consistently get into the lane allows for the other players around them to get open shots, plus easy baskets in transition, and affords more quality possessions for the team.

I believe there will be a few times this year when we see Goldwire, Roach, and Steward all on the floor at the same time. The key is for either Goldwire or Roach to emerge as a consistent outside shooter.

Judging from high school highlights, Steward seems to be a knock-down shooter and the best shooter of the three. If Roach or Goldwire can find consistency from outside, it’d allow the other to do the penetrating and distributing. This small lineup would afford Duke the chance to play fast and to have multiple guys get up under you on defense and disrupt opposing offenses’ rhythm.

One thing that unites Goldwire, Roach, and Steward is speed. All three have the ability to push the ball in transition and create scoring opportunities for themselves and others. Given Duke’s personnel, this should be a very fast team that’ll be aggressive in the passing lanes on defense and constantly looking to push the ball up the floor to establish a fast pace and get easy baskets.

This year’s Duke basketball team will be similar in terms of style to last year’s squad, which routinely played three or even four guards in the same lineup. I wouldn’t be shocked if we see Moore get some action at the four-spot. Duke doesn’t have a dominant low post threat like Vernon Carey Jr., so the Blue Devils will have to be more of a run-and-gun team that plays a lot of aggressive defense and five out on offense.

Goldwire, Roach, and Steward all seem to be guys who will play heavy minutes and be expected to contribute right away. It may take some time for Mike Krzyzewski and his staff to figure out the best lineups and who will be most effective at the point guard spot. I would expect to see Duke going with multiple point guard lineups to set the pace and flow for the rest of the team.

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