Grading each Duke basketball player’s performance in season opener
By Matt Giles
Grading the play of Duke basketball freshman Mark Williams
The stat line of Mark Williams vs. Coppin State: In four minutes on the court, the freshman center finished with two points, zero rebounds, one assist, zero steals, zero blocks, zero turnovers, and zero fouls while shooting 1-for-1 from the field.
The evaluation of Mark Williams vs. Coppin State: Early on against the Eagles, Mark Williams had a nice moment, announcing himself as a Duke basketball player via an alley-oop dunk off a perfect long-distance lob from Jordan Goldwire. In this respect, hovering around the baseline near the basket, the 7-foot, 245-pound big man from Virginia could, at the very least, be a constant decoy.
However, defensively, as expected, Williams had a difficult time keeping up when Duke’s constant-switch defense left him no option but to try and cover ground on the perimeter. Yet in the paint, the rookie at least looked proficient across his four total minutes of action.
Seeing that Mike Krzyzewski and his staff aren’t likely to often order a full-time zone defense this year — there just aren’t enough proven rim-protectors on the roster to pull it off — Williams will have to figure out how to be an effective member of Duke’s aggressive, risk-taking man-to-man scheme if he is to see consistent minutes this season.
The final grade for Mark Williams vs. Coppin State: 78 (C+)