Two reasons why Duke basketball is committed to small-ball

Like it or not, it is smart for Duke basketball to be all-in on small-ball.

Over the last few seasons, the Duke basketball program has enjoyed the luxury of having a dominant threat in the low post. Having a highly productive big man provides easy baskets offensively, reliable rim protection, and a strong rebounding presence.

But the game of basketball has entirely shifted away from building a team around a dominant paint presence. The pace-and-space era that basketball is currently living in makes it challenging to even have one big man on the floor. This year’s Blue Devils, so far, have gone all-in on the small-ball lineup.

Across the squad’s first two games — an 81-71 win at home against Coppin State and a 75-69 loss at home against Michigan State — we have seen plenty of sophomore stretch-four Matthew Hurt and freshman forward Jalen Johnson as Duke’s two frontcourt players. Also, freshman forward Jaemyn Brakefield has seen some action at the four and five positions.

ALSO READ: Three factors that led to Duke’s loss against Michigan State

Meanwhile, five-star freshman center Mark Williams has played just eight minutes across two games. Four-star freshman power forward Henry Coleman has played just one minute over two games, and graduate senior big man Patrick Tapé has still yet to step on the floor.

There are two main reasons why we have yet to see any of the Blue Devil bigs play meaningful minutes. We’ll start here by taking a look at the most obvious explanation of the two…