Two Things Duke Needs to Work On Before March

The number eight ranked Duke Blue Devils fell to the Florida State Seminoles 79-78, in an overtime thriller that featured over 19 lead changes, defensive intensity and a level of physicality that the Blue Devils haven’t seen this season. Two of Duke’s conference losses have come against teams from the state of Florida – Miami and Florida State. A common theme in both of those ball games was Duke’s inability to protect the rim – more specifically, rebounding.

The key number in last nights’ defeat was offensive rebounding. The Seminoles got an astounding 19 second chance opportunities, leading to 12 points. Florida State also had nine steals – ultimately causing 19 turnovers on a young Duke team that, even in defeat, grew up before our eyes. 

With less than 13 seconds remaining in regulation and trailing by 1, freshman phenom Paolo Banchero inbounded the ball to Wendell Moore. It looked as if Coach K wanted Moore to give the ball back to the hot-handed in Banchero, but Moore advanced the ball past half court and penetrated the lane – missing a five-foot runner, with time running out.

Two Takeaways from Duke’s Loss

• Duke has to rebound the ball and minimize second chance points.

In conference losses, Duke has given up double-digit offensive rebounds and nearly double digits steals to the opposing team. 

• The Blue Devils have to create more turnovers.

Against the Hurricanes and Seminoles, Duke only forced 10 turnovers…combined!

There have been two instances in Duke losses where the point guard has been caught not moving their feet. Against Florida State Jeremy Roach, who played well filling in for Trevor Keels who injured his calf midway through the second half, tacked on a blocking foul in overtime. At Cameron Indoor versus Miami, transfer Charlie Moore attacked the paint for the game-changing and-1 against Jeremy Roach. Defenses are making Roach a focal point on ball screens. Roach, as many players have stated, is Duke’s best on-ball defender. That has to get cleaned up ASAP in order for Duke to make a run in March.