This Thursday Cameron will be loud as ever as the quietest star of the Mike Krzyzewski era plays his last game on his home campus. That player, of course, is Daniel Ewing, a 6-foot-3 guard from Texas who has had one of the most atypical careers of any Blue Devil in the past 25 years.
If you ask his teammates, the biggest difference in Daniel Ewing today compared to that of his freshman year is that he has finally learned to open his mouth.
“He talks now,” senior Reggie Love said with a laugh. “He was real quiet [when he was a freshman.]”
Ewing credits Coach K for the development of his vocal and leadership skills, as the guard is now considered one of the biggest trash talkers on the squad by some of his teammates.
Ewing’s career has had several highlights: He was the MVP of the 2003 ACC Tournament and he is currently one of 10 finalists for the Bayer Senior CLASS Award, which goes to the top men’s basketball player in the senior class.
Although Ewing heads to a likely spot on this year’s second-team All-ACC squad, it still seems that he could more thoroughly dominate games, and his personality has held him back. Though he has shown enough fire to draw a team-high three technical fouls, Ewing often takes the back seat to fellow stars J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams. Despite displaying enough talent to be considered by many scouts a first-round pick in this year’s NBA draft, Ewing is content to not only play second fiddle, but third.
The Texan has had to deal with such problems his entire career. He only lost one high school game in his entire career as he teamed with three other Division I prospects, including former NCAA National Player of the Year T.J. Ford. During his freshman year at Duke he played in a lineup with five future NBA starters.
He also played a supporting role in the middle years of his college career, though he would occasionally explode as he did in the 2003 ACC Tournament. This year he has been more assertive, but it seems as if he has played with superior players for so long that he does not know how to take over games consistently throughout the season.
“[Playing with stars is] something I just learned to deal with,” Ewing said about his high school experience. “I think it really helped me coming here, playing with a lot of good players, players that were better than me my first couple of years. I knew had to play with guys who were as good as me or better than me. I know how to sometimes take the backseat and how sometimes to be aggressive and be the star.”
Although his skill with playing with superstars came in handy his first three years at Duke, Ewing should be demanding to be this team’s No. 1 offensive option. His time taking the backseat to his teammates should be limited, as he is capable of being the star on this squad.
Shelden Williams is the best post player in the conference and Redick’s outside shooting makes the game asymmetric for the Blue Devils’ opponents, but Ewing is the only player who can consistently take defenders off the dribble and score by either pulling up for a jump shot or taking the ball all the way to the hole. Ewing’s reluctance to take this role has hurt the Blue Devils this season.
Another problem with Ewing’s play this year is that it has not been mature. Ewing is a senior but he consistently makes underclassman-like mistakes. He gets in foul trouble more than any other perimeter player in the conference, he shoots a lower free-throw percentage than Shelden Williams and he’s picked up three technical fouls at horrible times for his team.
Even though he is Duke’s best finisher, Ewing also does not convert in the paint as well as he should. He often misses layups at the end of his drives that are difficult, but makeable, shots.
But all of these weaknesses I’ve listed could be erased this postseason. Unlike Redick’s speed and ball-handling skills, Ewing’s problems could be instantly improved with elevated intensity. If Ewing focused a bit more on not fouling, a bit more at finishing around the hoop and a bit more at knocking down his free-throws, his downfalls would become strengths.
The only problem is that with Sean Dockery’s injury, Ewing has even more responsibilities in running the team’s offense and defense. But if Ewing is to play in his second Final Four, he must for the first time in his career take full advantage of his lethal athleticism and versatile skills.
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