The Duke Blue Devils jumped from number three to number two in this week’s AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll – their highest ranking of the season. But despite the Blue Devils being in the middle of a 12 game win-streak (the longest active winning streak in the nation) and posting dominant performances (defeating opponents by an average of 20.5 points per game), head coach Jon Scheyer says the Blue Devils can get better.
“I don’t think we’ve peaked yet,” Scheyer said during Monday’s ACC men’s basketball call. “That’s the key. You can continue win games, but you want to continue to get better.”
As of the past Saturday they rank second in the country in scoring margin (+21.6), fifth in field goal percentage defense (.366), sixth in scoring defense (59.3), 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.70), 15th in rebound margin (+8.6), 16th in three-pointers per game (10.6) and 26th in assists per game (17.3) – all top marks in the ACC.
Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-seven in both offensive (3rd) and defensive efficiency (2nd), according to KenPom and the only Division I team to score 80 points or more per game (80.9), and hold its opponents to fewer than 60 points per game (59.3).
It’s hard to image the Blue Devils being any better than they’ve been – and the statistics prove it – but Scheyer says there are areas he’d like to see his team improve.
“I haven’t been quite as happy with our defense. I think our defense has not been quite the same level. Part of that is not having Maliq (Brown), but part of it is when you’re playing a lot of games sometimes there’s slippage with your habits. Some of things we were doing early in the season, I don’t feel like are at that point right now. So for us this week the defense will be a big point of emphasis and continuing to play in the half court.”
Duke already is a dangerous team, but having yet to reach their peak is scary thought for any opponent.
