With the regular season in the books and tournament season right around the corner, The Blue Zone will review the seasons of all the Blue Devils, beginning with the freshman Tuesday and ending with the seniors Thursday.
Marshall Plumlee
- Year: Redshirt Freshman
- Height: 6-11
- Position: Center
- This year's stat line: 0.1 PPG, 0.6 RPG
Season breakdown: Production-wise, the most you can say about MP3's season is that he scored his first two career points. Other than that, there wasn't much to speak of. After redshirting last season, Plumlee caught a tough break at the beginning of the season as he injured his foot, putting him out for the first two months. That was after coaches had raved about his development, saying he was primed to potentially be the team's sixth man.
He played his first game Dec. 19 against Elon, but never really broke into the rotation—a tough thing to do midseason. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski went with a short rotation all season and even though Plumlee went through a stretch in which he played in nine consecutive games, he never played more than seven minutes of action in a game. He scored his only points in that seven-minute game against Wake Forest. Most of that stretch in which he was "regularly" playing was with Ryan Kelly sidelined with his foot injury. MP3 played in just one one of the team's three final games with Kelly healthy, the end-of-season blowout against Virginia Tech.
Role for the rest of the season: Minutes for him will mean one of two things the rest of the way: Duke is blowing the other team out, or there is some serious foul trouble. At this point, he is clearly behind Josh Hairston and Amile Jefferson as Duke's reserve forwards. But if Mason gets in serious foul trouble, MP3 can bring a 6-foot-11 body to the floor, something they cannot. It would be surprising to see him get minutes in any competitive situation, but don't count it out... he brings an undeniable energy to the table and could be useful it they need a 6-foot-11 presence.
Results relative to expectations: Ultimately it was a disappointment, but that wasn't his fault. He's a fan favorite and everybody was eager to see him play, but the injury at the beginning of the year derailed that. Don't forget, though, he's still a redshirt freshman. He still has three years ahead of him in a Duke uniform and should be a key part next year with Mason and Kelly graduating.
In case you missed it, we've already reviewed: Rasheed Sulaimon, Amile Jefferson, Alex Murphy
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