Duke’s Passing This Season Is A Thing Of Basketball Beauty

Duke passing this season has been brilliant

They’re at it again.

Blue Devils who play for Jon Scheyer exhibit at least one signature trait – this is the second straight year of his three-season tenure his Devils pace the ACC in assists per game and scoring margin.

They averaged 16.79 assists through Jan.9, and did so while also leading the league in ratio of assists to turnovers (1.63:1). That valuing of possessions has again aided Duke in remaining the ACC leader in scoring margin (+21.6). Throw in superior team defense – the ACC’s best in suppressing opponents’ scoring (58.40) and accuracy (.359) – and you have a demonstrably exceptional team with balanced strengths.

The current team enjoys an unusually decisive scoring advantage. While we’re not even halfway through the 2025 season, it’s worth noting the last league team to enjoy a greater scoring margin was the nonpareil 1999 Blue Devil squad of Elton Brand, Trajan Langdon, Shane Battier, Corey Maggette and two current assistant Duke coaches, Chris Carrawell and Will Avery. That team set the modern ACC record with an overpowering +24.7 scoring margin.

Good passing – accurate, anticipatory, controlled – is a trait normally associated with a seasoned unit on which players understand each other’s court moves and where the ball needs to go. The trait is subtle but can be fun to watch. Good passing also can be a highly effective offensive weapon.

Gary Williams’ Maryland teams were masterful early in this century at sharing the ball, particularly among their frontcourt players as they reached consecutive Final Fours, winning the school’s sole NCAA title in 2002. Duke’s 1978 Final Four squad of Mike Gminski, Jim Spanarkel and freshman forwards Gene Banks and Kenny Dennard was also strikingly good at interior passing.

More recently Roy Williams’ North Carolina squads took over ACC assist leadership following a fashion tailored by Dean Smith, pacing the league 13 times in 16 seasons through 2019.

Even as Carolina recorded more assists per game than anyone else in the ACC, a similar predilection emerged at Duke.

Coach K’s last two teams (2021, 2022) led the ACC in assist average. Now it’s Scheyer’s turn. His cast of veterans and yearlings prospers by moving the ball with group purpose, a receding trait in an era of headlong quickly dropped bombs and purposeless dribbling.