The start to the season has been a massive success for the Duke basketball team and there’s no one that can taint its unbeaten 9-0 record, but some blemishes have been too noticeable to dismiss.
Its biggest question mark was fully on display in its 67-66 victory over No. 15 Florida on Tuesday night inside Cameron Indoor Stadium when the Blue Devils got almost no production from its backcourt.
Dating back to the preseason, most people knew the strength of the team would be its frontcourt behind Cameron Boozer and Pat Ngongba and the hope is that Isaiah Evans would be able to take a big sophomore jump as a wing player.
All three have come to fruition for Duke but its win over the Gators proves it still needs production from its guards.
Caleb Foster was 2-for-7 shooting, missed a massive front end of a one-and-one with 1.5 seconds left that could have put Duke up by three points, and finished with six points and five rebounds.
He only attempted two shots in the second half and didn’t record an assist.
In fairness, he was rock solid in Duke’s win over Arkansas on Thanksgiving with multiple clutch plays in the second half but if he’s not providing that scoring output it becomes much more difficult for the Blue Devils to win.
Cayden Boozer, who had been playing well leading into the Turkey Day bout, only played 10 minutes against Florida and sat for the final 12:18. He was a non-factor for most of the game as was Dame Sarr, who did not attempt a shot in the final 36:18 of the game after being pulled from the starting lineup and coming off the bench.
Even if you want to clump Isaiah Evans with the backcourt, he’s a very streaky player as seen by the country in his 0-for-7 stretch from 3-point range against Florida before hitting the game winner.
If Duke wants to have sustained success this season – including the NCAA Tournament – it needs to find a way to get more consistency from its backcourt and take some of the pressure of Boozer and Ngongba.