Grading each Duke basketball player’s performance in season opener
By Matt Giles
Duke basketball’s season opener produced a wide range of individual grades.
Careless turnovers. Silly fouls. Bricked free throws. Clanked 3-point attempts. Missed defensive assignments. No, the Duke basketball season opener this year, an 81-71 home win on Saturday against Coppin State, didn’t stack up to the crisp debuts of the past two collections of Blue Devils: a 118-84 demoralization of Kentucky in 2018 and a 68-66 statement over Kansas in 2019.
Individually, though, a few new stars in town put on performances that were more prolific — albeit against some considerably weaker competition — than the opening shows of Vernon Carey Jr. and Cassius Stanley last year. And while the two top performers this year didn’t quite dazzle to the degree of Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett two years ago, their combined efficiency was on par.
As for the other eight players in Duke’s latest rotation, well, they left much to be desired. As for senior guard Mike Buckmire, graduate transfer big man Patrick Tapé, second-year walk-on guard Michael Savarino, and second-year walk-on forward Keenan Worthington, well, they didn’t see any action and therefore have provided nothing to grade here as of yet.
But let’s now judge, on a 100-point scale, the performances of all 10 Blue Devils who did receive playing time. We’ll begin with the player who warrants the lowest score — keep in mind that expectations factor into each grade — and finish with what some might view as a bit of a surprise at No. 1…