Duke basketball’s best small-ball lineup next season
By Matt Giles
Best point guard for a Duke basketball small-ball lineup: Jeremy Roach
If this potentially frequent lineup is to excel, then it will certainly need ample speed in the backcourt and beyond. And although sophomore-to-be Jeremy Roach is by no means the quickest Duke basketball point guard in history, he’s no snail either.
Plus, Roach now has an all-important year of experience under his belt after persevering with an admirable attitude throughout the Blue Devils’ forgettable 13-11 campaign last season while drawing 18 starting nods.
As a Duke rookie, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound Virginia native showed promise but also plenty of room for improvement. Altogether, Roach averaged 8.7 points, 2.8 assists, 2.2 turnovers, 0.8 steals, and 2.0 turnovers across his 27.4 minutes per game in 2020-21 while shooting 45.6 percent from the field but only 31.3 percent beyond the arc.
Fans should expect Roach to make significant gains across the board, though, especially when considering he will reunite with a former high school teammate in this next fella here…