Next Up - Seattle In Cameron
As Duke gets a bounce-back opportunity
Next up for Duke is Seattle and while a lot of Duke fans might think that’s a gimme, allow us to point out a couple of things.
First, Chris Victor has been a decent coach since taking over in 2021. He’s finished 23-9, 20-12 and last season 23-14.
And second, while Seattle is just 2-4, all their losses have been close.
The Redhawks are smaller than Duke with just two players taller than 6-8. They also have nine upperclassmen, two sophomores and four freshmen.
Two are from China, one from Japan and one from Australia. Six guys get the majority of the minutes but two others are in double figures and two more get at least eight per game.
Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe, a 6-8 senior transfer from Georgia, is probably their best player. He’s putting up a double-double with 14.5 ppg and 10.5 rpg.
Maleek Arrington, a 6-3 junior transfer from Idaho State, is running the show with 5.0 apg.
The other rotation players are John Christofilis (6-3 junior), Braydon Maldonado (6-0 junior), Paris Dawson (6-2 senior), Malek Gomma (6-8/245 sophomore), Vasja Pandza, (6-8 senior) who it seems has an inevitable nickname), Viktor Rajkovic (6-6 senior) and DaSean Stevens (6-3 junior).
Coach Victor - how cool is that, by the way? - addressed the close losses in The Seattle Times, saying this: “It has been our story this year where in areas we’ve played well enough to win games, but we’re not making enough winning plays to actually take care of it, whether finishing a game or another aspect that we’re lacking. We’ve got to be able to put it all together.”
Cameron isn’t a great place to do that, but other teams have come in and had big nights, notably Vermont, which nearly pulled off a huge upset in 2013. and Stephen F. Austin, which did it in 2019.
It’s a bit tougher after a Duke loss.
The Blue Devils tend to be focused after a loss and not to single Cooper Flagg out in this regard, but the freshman is highly competitive. You get the sense that losing really sticks in his craw.
One thing that really might work in Seattle’s favor: there’s the chance that Duke might look ahead to Auburn next week. Bruce Pearl has put together a great team and it would only be human to think about the next big game.
Let’s hope not.
Anyway, Seattle has competed well and Victor has proven to be a fine coach. So don’t think Duke can just mail it in.