What stood out in Duke basketball's opening night victory over Maine
By Hugh Straine
Duke basketball kicked off its 2024-25 season with a dominant 96-62 victory over Maine. On both sides of the floor, Duke looked like one of the most complete and balanced teams in the nation. Here's what stood out in last night's victory.
Knueppel-Flagg duo
The freshmen duo of Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg looks like not only the best rookie duo in college basketball, but one of the best two-way duos in the sport. Knueppel looked like the best player on the floor all night for Duke, finishing with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 3-of-8 from three point range. Knueppel's attraction during his recruitment process out of high school was his elite shooting, but he is so much more than that and is showing it. Offensively, he uses his ability to shoot to also free up driving lanes and attack hard closeouts by defenders. He looks for contact on his way to the basket and has phenomenal body control when finishing a layup at the rim after being bumped. Defensively, he never takes a play off. Knueppel is one of those guys that just always knows where to be. Every loose ball, every time he was the help defender, he was in the right position. Knueppel can guard the 1-4 regularly for Duke, as can a lot of the wings and backcourt guys on this year's squad. As for Flagg, we're learning he may not lead Duke in scoring, but may lead in assists. He finished with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting to go along with five assists and seven rebounds. Flagg doesn't force anything, and it's what makes him such a complete player. His excellent vision as a passer was on display last night and he will always kick to the open man if his shot isn't there. Flagg will draw plenty of double teams all season, and being a scoring threat while also having elite vision to find the open man when the double comes elevates this Blue Devil offense that much more. And Flagg is similar to Knueppel defensively, just elite. Flagg's defensive game might be further along than his offensive game, and he hardly has any offensive flaws. Flagg and Knueppel both do what a lot of freshmen and a lot of highly ranked players won't: put your body on the line, bring intensity every single possession, dive on the floor for every ball.
Balanced scoring
The Blue Devils had six different players that scored in double figures last night, and it didn't all come from one area of the floor. The connectivity of this Duke team, after seeing so many new faces enter the program this season, is extremely impressive. The pick-and-roll game was working effectively, guys were cutting hard and at the basket, and set plays with down screens or pick-and-pops worked well. The sky is the limit for this team offensively with so many guys that can score in so many different ways. Duke shot 11-of-29 (38%) from three point range last night with six different guys making at least one. The Blue Devils also scored 44 points in the paint and the team's first ten points of the game came from there. Duke also earned 19 points off 13 forced turnovers and added on 18 fast break points. This is one of the most versatile offenses in the country, with seven or eight guys that can have the hot hand at any given point. The ability of this team to not force anything and really just take what the defense is giving them makes this offense so much more dangerous. Opposing teams will have a near impossible task of game planning for Duke with how many different ways this team can score.
Defensive intensity
Most around the sport knew Duke was going to be one of the best defensive teams in the country with its size, length, and positional versatility. The shortest player on the roster is 6' 5" and the Blue Devils can switch 1-4 with virtually any lineup Jon Scheyer can come up with. One thing that size can't justify is effort. Over the last several years, the Kelvin Sampson-led Houston Cougars have been the benchmark in college basketball for elite, suffocating defense. I see a lot of that culture in this year's Blue Devils squad. Help defense was always in the right position if the primary defender got beat, hands were always active to pest the ball handler, and there were mutiple Duke players diving on the ground for every loose ball. It can be difficult to teach effort for a lot of teams as it's kind of up to the players to decide if they want to give it. I haven't watched a Duke team in a long time that's shown this much intensity on the defensive end of the floor, and mix that with the size and talent the team already has in terms of its defense, it's tough to see why this team can't contend for a national championship.