The Duke basketball team is still lacking consistency to win games.
Tuesday night was no mirage or one-off game, and it continued a troubling trend with the Duke basketball team. The Blue Devils just aren’t consistent enough to win games against tough competition.
Digging a hole against teams like Coppin State, Bellarmine, Boston College, and Wake Forest isn’t ideal, but it’s not as difficult to erase an early deficit.
It’s quite different trying to rally against teams like Michigan State, Illinois, and Virginia Tech, something Duke has not been able to do this season.
ALSO READ: Duke star hit with another harsh penalty ahead of his return
After two early-season home losses to the Spartans and Illini, many were hoping the Blue Devils used their practice time and few games to try and improve on what had been troubling them early in the season.
It did not work.
Duke dug an 18-point hole against No. 20 Virginia Tech and rallied to cut the deficit to one, but the team could not find enough buckets down the stretch to complete the comeback.
Duke basketball needs to find its best five players
The biggest issue with the Blue Devils this season is that there is no consistency.
There was no preseason practice like there has been in previous seasons, games have been postponed and canceled at a moment’s notice, five-star freshman Jalen Johnson has been injured, and head coach Mike Krzyzewski had been sidelined because of COVID-19 protocols.
Not a good combination for a young team that needs as much practice time as possible and as many games as possible.
ALSO READ: NBA personality makes startling demand for Kyrie Irving
The talent gap in college basketball seems massive from teams that have been together for multiple seasons like Gonzaga and Baylor compared to bluebloods like Duke, Kentucky, and North Carolina, who have much younger rosters. But there are still significant improvements the Blue Devils can make prior to March.
With that being said, we get into our latest edition of ‘Stock Up, Stock Down’.
Duke basketball players who improved their stock against Virginia Tech
Matthew Hurt
It’s a daily occurrence that Matthew Hurt earns himself a spot on the ‘Stock Up’ following each game this season.
Hurt almost single-handedly willed the Blue Devils back into the game in the second half and led Duke to a victory. But for whatever reason, he didn’t get the ball nearly as much as he should have down the stretch.
The Minnesota native posted yet another double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds on 8-of-16 shooting and 4-of-8 from 3-point territory to go along with two blocks and a steal.
Despite his defensive issues, Hurt has established himself as the best, most potent, and most efficient offensive player on this team and needs to be on the floor for virtually the entire 40 minutes.
Jeremy Roach
Aside from Hurt, Jeremy Roach was the only other player who remotely came close to anything productive on the offensive end.
And that’s not a knock on the freshman point guard, rather an indictment on the rest of the team.
Roach continues to improve each time he steps on the floor, and he led Duke against Virginia Tech with 22 points, two rebounds, and an assist while still playing 34 minutes despite battling foul trouble.
Outside shooting still troubles Jeremy Roach in his young career, but there’s no debating his explosiveness in getting to the basket off the dribble.
Another positive offensive sign for a team that has a lot of struggling players in that aspect of the game.
Joey Baker
Trying to find a third player for ‘Stock Up’ was pretty difficult.
DJ Steward put up 14 points, but his second-half struggles really hurt the Blue Devils, and 5-of-13 shooting is nothing to boast about.
So, we went with Joey Baker, solely with the reasoning that he look like he wanted to be out there.
Baker didn’t score. In fact, he didn’t even attempt a shot. But he showed effort and was diving on the floor and added two rebounds, one assist, and three blocks to his stat line.
Clearly, there wasn’t a high bar to make the ‘Stock Up’ column following this game.
Duke basketball players who hurt their stock against Virginia Tech
Jordan Goldwire
Jordan Goldwire is the opposite of Matthew Hurt.
All defense, very little offense.
However, that offense was a killer for Goldwire on Tuesday night against Virginia Tech. He missed all five of his shot attempts, including two from 3-point range, and only registered one point, three rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
Goldwire’s untimely shots in the loss against the Hokies were crushing to the Blue Devils in the second half, and the senior point guard must know his role on this team much better.
Wendell Moore
It seems as if Wendell Moore‘s breakout game against Boston College was just a blip on the radar as the sophomore has reverted back to his old ways following his 25-point performance.
Moore has since put forth back-to-back four-point outings against Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.
It’s no secret that Wendell Moore must be effective and efficient for Duke to have success, and perhaps a seven-day break will allow him to clear his mind once again and perform like he did against the Eagles.
Jaemyn Brakefield
After a surprising start to the season, Jaemyn Brakefield has dropped back to the mean in terms of what many were expecting from him this season.
The freshman forward will see a reduction in minutes going forward because of the return of Jalen Johnson, but Brakefield did receive his first career start against the Hokies, ending with four points in 27 minutes.
Jaemyn Brakefield only attempted two 3-pointers, missing both, but his shooting has been a bright spot for the Blue Devils early in the season.
Duke returns to action on Tuesday night in the second game of its three-game road trip against the Pittsburgh Panthers at 9:00pm EST (ESPN).