Duke basketball’s biggest areas for improvement following second loss

The third area for Duke basketball to improve: SPACING AND MOVEMENT

Learning to play halfcourt offense represents probably the biggest learning curve for most freshmen. These players are so used to using their physical tools and advanced skill level to score easily at the high school level. This can cause some to lose sight of offensive principles that are needed to be effective at the collegiate level.

Because Duke has struggled to shoot from the outside, teams have been packing in the defense, making it harder for the Blue Devils to get all the way to the basket. This has been one of the primary causes of the squad’s early turnover struggles. We’ve seen Duke trying to force drives to the basket because outside shots weren’t falling. This led to turnovers and getting shots blocked.

Against Illinois, the Blue Devils just couldn’t get anything to drop. They shot just 5-for-22 from 3-point range and didn’t make their first 3-pointer until midway through the second half. Until Duke can show that it can hit outside shots at a decent clip, the offense will continue to struggle.

Following the Michigan State loss, I pointed out the Blue Devils’ lack of movement on offense. There was far too much standing around and watching. Tuesday night’s game against Illinois featured more of the same. Duke scored a couple of baskets early in the game, showing some nice back door cuts and off-ball movement. However, it did not last very long.

The Blue Devils have to get more cutting action in their dribble penetration. Multiple times last time out, when one Duke player got penetration, everyone else just stood around the perimeter.

There was one play in particular where Jeremy Roach made a nice crossover and drew a secondary defender, but everyone was standing beyond the 3-point line, just watching. A cutter on that play would have led to a wide-open layup.

The Blue Devil offense has to get better movement, both on and off the ball. Right now Duke is averaging just 15.8 assists per game, which is outside the top 100 in the country. It is not a bad thing seeing guys being aggressive and hunting their shots, but they have to get more ball movement before they look to score.

Trying to score on a set defense without making the defenders move is just far too difficult at the highest level.

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