Duke basketball: 5 excuses Coach K cannot honestly use next season
By Matt Giles
The second inexcusable Duke basketball excuse next season: Exhaustion
At least nine of the 10 scholarship players who are presently signed up to be 2021-22 Duke basketball players ought to be viable weapons for Mike Krzyzewski and his gang.
And given that Bates Jones is the younger brother of former Blue Devil football treasure and current New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, whose own arrival in Durham came with little fanfare, it would be ludicrous to discount potential untapped strengths in his genes.
Granted, Bates Jones never averaged more than three points or three rebounds across his four years at Davidson. Nevertheless, Coach K & Co. surely wouldn’t have offered the 6-foot-8, 225-pound power forward a spot on next season’s roster without holding a significant level of belief in his capabilities.
As for the other nine, there’s a seemingly ideal mix of superstars, role players, and realistic pleasant surprises.
Go ahead and put rookie forwards Paolo Banchero and AJ Griffin in the superstar pile. The same goes for sophomore center Mark Williams.
In regard to key role players, there’s really no doubt at this point that senior forward Joey Baker, junior forward Wendell Moore, sophomore guard Jeremy Roach, and freshman guard Trevor Keels should each at least fit well in that category.
Finally, the group of pleasant surprises might end up consisting of fifth-year senior Theo John and freshman guard Jaylen Blakes — not to mention Jones.
With a sound rotation, and even with a couple of injuries along the way, there should be no such thing as tired Duke basketball legs once March arrives. In other words, if the Blue Devils are ever exhausted, Coach K should have nothing to blame but his own insufficient use of the bench.