When you enter a season with the kind of expectations that Duke did, there's really only one way to go. Down. Unless you end up putting together one of the single best seasons in college basketball history, chances are you aren't going to live up to the lofty preseason hype.
And when you're Duke, every loss is always amplified.
Michigan State exposed some major chinks in the armor for Duke on Tuesday night in Chicago. The Spartans were the better team, plain and simple.
Duke's offense was discombobulated from the opening tip, and the defense was in shambles trying to stop Jeremy Fears from orchestrating the entire MSU attack. It was a frustrating night at the United Center, and it showed just how far Jon Scheyer and his team have to go to be the contender they have the potential to be.
But that's no reason to panic. It's only November. That fact hasn't stopped some fans from overreacting to one game. Perhaps the words of Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo will provide some solace.
Speaking with The Field of 68's Jeff Goodman after the game, Izzo admitted he was a little surprised at the result, but also remains steadfast in his belief that the Blue Devils are among the best teams in the country.
"I am a little surprised," Izzo said to Goodman. "I think they are a really, really good team. ...It was our night; we made some plays, they didn't make some plays, they didn't make some shots. I'm not betting against them to do a lot of damage this year."
Tom Izzo isn't betting against Duke and neither should you
Scheyer has some very real problems to work out before Duke's next big test next Tuesday at home against Illinois. For starters, the Blue Devils have to get more out of their backcourt.
Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell needs to be the star he was paid to be. He ended up with 17 points against Michigan State, but he was quiet for far too much of the night. Cayden Boozer and Caleb Foster weren't good enough, either.
There were flashes in the preseason from Deron Rippey Jr. that made us believe that Scheyer may not have a choice but to hand the keys to him eventually. Eventually might be coming sooner than we originally thought.
Duke needs more winning players on the court. Sebastian Wilkins and Drew Scharnowski both finished in the positive in plus/minutes last night. It's going to be difficult to justify not playing those two extra minutes going forward because of the impact they are having.
Scheyer will get a chance to experiment a little bit more on Friday night against SIUE. Getting a tune-up game before Illinois comes to Cameron is a luxury, and Scheyer will take full advantage as Duke looks to work out the kinks.
So hang in there, Duke fans. Last night sucked. There's no sugarcoating it. But the ceiling of this remains unchanged.
Don't go jumping off the bandwagon just yet.
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