Duke basketball: 5 things to watch for this upcoming season

No. 2 thing to watch during the Duke basketball season: 

The Shooting Percentage of Joey Baker

Joey Baker is the lone player left in the heralded recruiting class of 2018 that included Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, and Tre Jones.

Baker entered Durham as the next great Duke sharpshooter, but that has yet to materialize, in part due to the senior’s hesitancy to let the basketball play.

The freshman season of Baker withstanding, the Fayetteville, North Carolina native made 39.4-percent (28-of-71) of his 3-point attempts as a sophomore and just 31.4-percent (16-of-51) of his deep shots as a junior.

Baker’s regular shooting percentage also precipitously dropped off from his sophomore (41.0-percent) to junior (31.0-percent) season.

If Joey Baker can be confident in his shooting stroke all season long, in what could be his last at Duke, then the rest of his game will follow as he has proven to be an energetic player off the bench and quality defender.