Halloween costume for Duke basketball forward Wendell Moore…
JUSTISE WINSLOW (2014-15)
Wendell Moore definitely won’t score the most points for Duke this year. He definitely won’t be on SportsCenter every night. But make no mistake, folks, I think Moore will be the most important player to the Blue Devils this season.
Moore averaged only 7.4 points per game in his first year at Duke, but the hustle plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet are where Wendell makes his bones.
That rang true with former Duke basketball standout Justise Winslow as well. In Winslow’s only season as a Blue Devil, he was the guy willing to do the dirty work. He could ruin the day of four different positions on the floor defensively.
Wendell Moore will need to occupy that same space to make this Duke team hum. On any given possession, the Blue Devils will need to be able to put him on positions 1-4 and take them out of the game. Moore has this defensive ability and can be whatever the squad needs him to be on the offensive side of the ball.
Justise Winslow was the same kind of Swiss Army Knife, and the results of his all-around contributions reside in the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium in the form of the 2015 National Championship banner. We Duke diehards can only hope Moore will follow in that same path.
OK, thanks for sticking with me through that whole thing. I know I didn’t mention forwards Jaemyn Brakefield and Henry Coleman, but I’m not sure they will get enough minutes to qualify for this article.
I will say, though, that this entire group, including the two freshmen not included, is complete and tough on paper. Time will tell if these kids will turn into men as the season takes shape.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball news and views.