More On Duke’s Big Win Over Syracuse

This team is heating up

One of the more interesting things that the announcers said about the Duke-Syracuse game was that the Blue Devils didn't let up late, as they did against UNC on Saturday. That’s a good point, but you could take it a little further and say this: except for a few minutes in the second half against UNC, Duke has been tremendous in the last two games.

And that’s saying a lot because this team is on a 16-game winning streak.

Now it’s perfectly fair to say that most of that came against weaker teams, but Duke did beat Auburn in that run, along with Louisville (although the Cardinals really caught fire later).

Still, they racked up some pretty impressive performances, notably at SMU. Individually, Cooper Flagg hung 42 on Notre Dame.

You’d have a hard time convincing us that Duke has played better at any point than in the last two games. Against UNC, the Blue Devils just picked the Heels apart on defense. And at Syracuse, though the game started a bit slow, when Duke started rolling, it was like a runaway freight train. The game was pretty much over by halftime.

Everyone will focus on the score, but there were some contributing factors that were also tremendous. Let’s look at a few:

• Defense
• Ball movement
• Cohesion

The defense was just overwhelming. Duke had 12 steals and held Syracuse to 6-23 from behind the line (26.1 percent) and 23-60 overall (38.3 percent). JJ Starling, their best offensive weapon, was held to 5-15.

Jyare Davis shot 6-8 and Naheem McLeod was 4-4. Take them out and the ‘Cuse was 13-48.No one else shot well at all.

And when you see your 7-2 center and a 6-4 guard chasing guards around the perimeter with equal agility, well, that’s a lot to overcome.

And we’re not even getting into Flagg for now.

The great wild card though is Maliq Brown. Now back for his second game after his four-game injury-induced absence, we’re seeing, again, what a profoundly disruptive defender he is. He just has a real brilliance for getting his hand on the ball. We’re guessing Duke tests for hand-eye coordination and we’d love to see where he ranks historically. He’s not a crazy jumper, he’s not dazzlingly athletic. He just has a magnet for the ball. And his ability to facilitate on offense shouldn’t be overlooked.

Finally, Kon Knueppel deserves a word here. When you look at Duke’s starting lineup, Flagg is a freakish defender. Khaman Malauch is 7-2 and he’s learning how to use his length. Sion James and Tyrese Proctor are both pit bulls on the perimeter.

You might look at this group and think Knueppel is the weak link, only he’s not. He’s becoming a damn good defender. And the thing is, his immediate value is on offense, right? We’ve all seen him explode. The guy is a deadly shooter and a deceptively smart penetrator and passer. Watching him bust his butt on defense is a savage pleasure.

Secondly, the ball movement on this team, when it is at its best, is sublime. And it’s hit some real high points in the last two games.

Part of it is Flagg of course. He has a tremendous, innate understanding of where the ball needs to be and how to get it there. But he’s not the only one.

Eight players had assists in this game, including freshmen Patrick Ngongba, who had two, and Isaiah Evans, who had four.

The announcers pointed out that Duke is assisting on 61 percent of its baskets this year, and that’s the highest that’s been since the 1951-52 season when the great Dick Groat was a Blue Devil.

Which leads nicely to our third point: this team is highly cohesive. The ball movement is a great indicator of that but so is this: Duke was forced to leave Mason Gillis at home due to illness. But the Blue Devils were just fine without him. And while yes, he’s a reserve, he’s also a hard-nosed defender.

But taking him out could theoretically disrupt the rotation.

Not only did that not happen, but Duke significantly changed some things. While Brown was the most important reserve, Ngongba and Evans both were called on earlier than they usually are and both did just fine.

And Duke mixed things up a bit, too. At one point coach Jon Scheyer sent Brown in along with Maluach and later sent Ngongba in alongside Brown. Typically, he puts one big on the court at a time.

So what we saw on Wednesday was a team that was playing not just with great confidence but with a lot of versatility.

Finally, consider this. We don't have this at our fingertips, but our guess is that if you look back over the past 20-30 years, you’d find that both Duke and UNC are vulnerable in the game after The Game. It might not mean a loss every time, but there are plenty we’re sure and if not, many of those games, upon inspection, will be closer than you might think or remember.

That absolutely did not happen this time, and in our opinion, that says a lot about this team and where it is right now. We’ll have a better idea after this Saturday’s trip to Clemson, where the Tigers have a score to settle.