We all know that John Blackwell can get buckets. He's one of the premier bucket-getters in college basketball, and he's coming to Duke to do just that: score, score, and score some more.
Adding a scoring punch to Duke's backcourt was a non-negotiable for Jon Scheyer this offseason. But Blackwell's offensive game isn't what will determine the ceiling for next year's Blue Devils.
It'll be the other end of the floor. Blackwell playing the two at 6-foot-4 will give Duke a smaller backcourt than has been customary under Scheyer. What Duke loses in size, it will have to make up for in being pesky.
And that's exactly why the defender Blackwell is trying to model his defensive game after is so important.
John Blackwell is trying to emulate NBA All-Star Jrue Holiday defensively
"Defensively this year I'm trying to be like a Jrue Holiday," Blackwell told The Field of 68 after his commitment.
That's a good one to model your game after. And the parallels between the two make it even more obvious.
Holiday is undersized for the NBA's standards as a two-guard. He's 6-foot-4 - the same as Blackwell is listed. But Holiday has never felt mismatched against anyone on the defensive end because he's so physical and so aggravating.
The two-time NBA Champion has made an NBA All-Defensive team six times in his career (3 1sts, 3 2nds). He's done so by being opportunistic with getting steals, but also by just being so fundamentally sound in everything he does on that end of the floor.
That's what Duke will need from Blackwell next season to be legitimate championship contenders. Scheyer has built the identity of this program on the defensive end of the floor, and he can't be willing to sacrifice on that end.
It doesn't sound like he is, and it sounds like Blackwell is quickly embracing the type of defense he'll have to play for Duke to have a shot at its ultimate goal.
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