Duke basketball 2012-2013 player review: Ryan Kelly

• Year: Senior
• Height: 6-11
• Position: Forward

• This year's stat line: 14.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 53.1 3P%

• The Blue Zone's projected stat line: 13.0 PPG and 7.0 RPG

Season breakdown: CAW. Duke hasn't lost a game with the White Raven healthy this season... they haven't lost with him on the floor since an overtime defeat to Miami last February. But Kelly missed a significant chunk of this season, going down Jan. 8 against Clemson and missing 12 games with a foot injury. The most important part, though—Kelly didn't miss a beat when he came back, scoring a career-high 36 points in his return to action, carrying the Blue Devils past Miami at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The story of Kelly's season has been his out-of-this-world 3-point shooting, hitting an incredible 53.1% from beyond the arc, making 1.9 3-pointers per game. He doesn't qualify in most national leaderboards because he hasn't played enough games, but for some perspective, at 51.6%, Princeton's Will Barrett leads Div. I among players who average two 3-point attempts per game and have played 75% of their team's games. Kelly is 1.5 percentage points higher than that. The most important part of Kelly's play is what it does for the rest of the offense. Because he can sit on the perimeter, it prevents opposing teams from doubling Mason Plumlee in the post while it also opens driving lanes for Seth Curry and Quinn Cook.

Role on the team: Stud muffin? With Duke going 9-4 in Kelly's absence this season—and 18-0 with him healthy—it's pretty easy to see the impact he has on this team. Save for any injury flare ups or foul trouble, he'll be playing 30+ minutes per game the rest of the way. While his offensive impact is the most visible, he also plays a major role on the defensive end. He is one of the key communicators for Duke on defense, also adding a 6-foot-11 frame and 1.6 blocks per game.