[Written before Duke's loss to Georgia Tech Saturday]My beloved Dukies. After 4-5 years of subpar performance to my standards, the Dukies are back with their best team sinced we robbed of a National Championship in 2004. The "Big Three" of Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith have been carrying the load offensively for the Blue Devils. I love thier size and depth in the frontcourt. Miles Plumlee, Brian Zoubek, Mason Plumlee, and Lance Thomas provide a mix of experience, youth, athleticism that is uncommon for most college basketball teams. This year Coach K has more size than even he knows to do with. Miles PLumlee and Brian Zoubek have been serviceable at the center position. They do a great job rebounding on both ends of the floor and taking up space inside. Lance Thomas is an extremely active defender and reminds me of a poor-man's Shane Battier defensively. The future Duke star on the interior is Mason Plumlee. He has the size and athletic ability to cause problems while at Duke. For Duke to be a true contender this year in MArch, Coach K has to find ways to get him more involved and comfortable offensively.
They key to Duke's rise this year has been the play of Scheyer at the point and the emergence of Nolan Smith as a true scoring threat. I've loved Nolan Smith's game since his days at Oak Hill academy. While at Oak Hill, Smith played in the same backcourt as future Mc Donalds All-Americans and 2009 NBA Draft 1st rd draft picks, Tywon Lawson and Brandon Jennings. He is more comfortable playing off the ball and slashing to the bucket instead of playing a ball distributor role. Scheyer, on the other hand, has been ACC POY-worthy. 18ppg, 7 assts, 5-1 asst/To ratio, 44% 3PG, and 91% FT. He has been AWESOME.
A potential downfall of Duke this year is running across an athletic team that can really pressure Scheyer off the ball and disrupt Duke's offense.
