Duke has the kind of roster that can make a season look easy on paper. But if the Blue Devils are going to turn all that talent into a national championship, the 3-point line has to start cooperating.
That was the issue in Duke’s 79-73 loss to Michigan State, where the Blue Devils never really found a rhythm from deep. Through three games, Duke is shooting 30.1 percent from 3 and went just 7-of-29 against the Spartans. In a college game that changes fast from the perimeter, that kind of number puts real pressure on everything else the offense is trying to do.
The early-season dip isn’t exactly shocking when you look at what Duke lost. The Athletic pointed out that the Blue Devils are down their four best 3-point shooters from last season: Isaiah Evans, Cameron Boozer, Nikolas Khamenia and Darren Harris. Even with returners who shot 33.5 percent from deep a year ago, the spacing has not been there yet.
Duke did add John Blackwell, who made 96 3s at a 38.9 percent clip last season at Wisconsin, and first-year Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje is described as a capable shooter who should probably be better than he has been so far. Still, the Spartans were able to crowd things up and take away comfort. As CJ Moore wrote, “Through three games, Duke is shooting 30.1 percent from 3 and made just 7-of-29 against Michigan State.
“We probably should have seen this coming. Duke lost its best four 3-point shooters off last year’s team - Isaiah Evans, Cameron Boozer, Nikolas Khamenia and Darren Harris.
The returners shot 33.5 percent from deep last year. Duke did add John Blackwell, who made 96 3s at a 38.9 percent clip last season at Wisconsin, and first-year Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje is a capable shooter who will probably shoot it better than he has so far.
But the lack of floor spacers was evident against the Spartans, who were not worried about Cayden Boozer, allowing Jeremy Fears Jr. to play free safety and muck up action when Boozer was his assignment,”
The Isaiah Evans loss stands out most. He was one of the elite shooters in college basketball last season and could hurt defenses in more than one way from beyond the arc.
Even with the rough start, Duke still looks like a team with enough talent to sort this out. Jon Scheyer has a track record of getting the most out of his players, and with this being such an obvious issue through the first three games, the expectation is that it gets cleaned up before long.
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