It feels like the Duke basketball team has the makings of a pretty special group but something feels off.
For as dominant as Cameron Boozer has been, the streaky shooting of Isaiah Evans, and the continued progression from Pat Ngongba, there still feels to be a glaring weakness sitting in the backcourt.
The Blue Devils are hoping for someone to step up between Caleb Foster or Cayden Boozer to be the true point guard this team needs, but the issues in the backcourt run deeper than that.
In its games against high-major competition, Duke has been getting virtually nothing from heralded international recruit Dame Sarr. The 6-foot-8 guard is oozing potential with his size and previous shooting history, but it has not translated to college basketball yet.
Sarr was ousted from the starting lineup prior to Tuesday’s game against Florida and despite playing 17 minutes, he only took one shot.
It was the first scoreless performance of the season for the Italian and in Duke’s four games against upper echelon teams he’s averaging 4.5 points per game on 6-of-18 shooting from the field (33.3-percent) and 3-of-12 from 3-point range (25-percent).
The lack of scoring from Sarr is putting so much pressure on Boozer, which he has been able to carry through nine games, but it’s the extra punch that this team is lacking.
Not only does Dame Sarr’s confidence look impacted, not attempting a shot over the final 36:18 against the Gators, but moving him to the bench also shows that Jon Scheyer is not as confident in him as he might have been earlier in the season.
Sarr did not play the final 7:05 in Duke’s win over Kansas and he sat for the final 9:33 against Arkansas.
If Duke wants to transform into a team that can truly win the National Championship, they are going to need production from Dame Sarr and not solely rely on Cameron Boozer, Isaiah Evans, and Pat Ngongba for scoring.