The Duke basketball team has some serious concerns entering the NCAA Tournament.
It is officially NCAA Tournament time, and the Duke basketball team will be making its first appearance in the Big Dance since the 2018-19 season, in which the Blue Devils boasted Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, and company.
Duke earned a No. 2 seed in the West Region on Selection Sunday and was pinned against the champions of the Big West Conference, the Cal State Fullerton Titans.
Fullerton won its conference championship by one point, 72-71, against Long Beach State and was given a No. 15 seed in the region.
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The Blue Devils have never played the Titans in the history of the two programs, but that will change on Friday night in Greenville, South Carolina.
Duke enters the contest having lost the ACC Championship Game to Virginia Tech, who would not have made the field without the automatic bid, but the pressure on the Blue Devils is immense in the final season under Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Duke basketball sees daunting task ahead
There were no favors done to the five-time National Champions with their draw in the NCAA Tournament as the Blue Devils were paired with the No. 1 overall seed, the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
Duke defeated Gonzaga on a neutral floor in November, but the ‘Zags have continued to play like one of the best teams in the country this season.
Texas Tech is the No. 3 seed in the bracket while Alabama, a dangerous team in its own right, is the No. 6 seed in the region.
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Gonzaga would potentially have to go through No. 8 Memphis, No. 5 UConn, and/or No. 4 Arkansas to advance to an Elite Eight matchup this month.
Given its past upsets in the Round of 64, Duke will not be looking past any opponent this postseason, and it shouldn’t given its recent performances.
Duke basketball concerns entering NCAA Tournament:
Inexperience
The inexperience for Duke is glaring when studying the history of its players in the NCAA Tournament.
Joey Baker is the only player on the roster who has seen minutes in the tournament while wearing a Blue Devil uniform, and the senior has only logged a total of seven minutes in the NCAA Tournament.
Marquette graduate transfer Theo John also has played in the NCAA Tournament during his tenure with the Golden Eagles, which came in the 2018-19 event, and the forward played 17 minutes in an opening-round loss to Ja Morant and Murray State.
That’s it.
There are 24 total minutes of NCAA Tournament experience on the Duke roster entering the most important games of the season.
Some of that inexperience was noticeable in the ACC Tournament, which is not a good sign as the NCAA Tournament is a completely different animal than the conference tournament.
Duke basketball concerns entering NCAA Tournament:
Pressure from Mike Krzyzewski
Friday begins the final NCAA Tournament in the career of Mike Krzyzewski. It is a big deal despite how much the Hall of Famer tries to downplay it.
It was clear the moment was too big for the Duke players in their regular-season finale against North Carolina, and perhaps the moment got to the team again one week later in the ACC Championship.
The NCAA Tournament will take on a new life.
It came with the territory of Coach K announcing before the season that this would be his final year on the sidelines.
If Duke is trailing at halftime, or in the second half, of a game, it will be all the announcers and arena is talking about.
The hands start to get a little more sweaty. Your mind starts racing just a little bit more. You start to feel the pressure. And your season is over before you know it.
The million-dollar question remains: which team will hand Krzyzewski a loss in his final game?
The pressure will be there for this young and inexperienced roster, and this team has not proven it can handle itself in such a big moment against a quality opponent.
Perhaps things will change this week.
Duke basketball concerns entering NCAA Tournament:
Intensity
It was very apparent Duke did not match the intensity of its opponents last weekend in Brooklyn.
It felt like Syracuse wanted the game more than the Blue Devils. As did Miami and Virginia Tech.
A real case can be made that Duke could have, and should have, lost each of its three games in the ACC Tournament. But its pure talent was able to catapult the team to victories in two of the three games.
Talent will only take you so far in the NCAA Tournament, though, so the Blue Devils need to start playing like a collective group once again.
Cal State Fullerton has absolutely nothing to lose on Friday night while Duke has everything to lose in the Round of 64.
Can this team find the intensity it was playing with in November? That is one of the main questions surrounding Duke in March.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. on Friday night.