Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s praise for point guard Quinn Cook was effusive after an outbreak of “Quinn-sanity” in the Bahamas.
“It’s when a team has confidence in its point guard that you can take off. This team has great confidence in Quinn [Cook], and he’s earned it.”
The sophomore won the most outstanding player award in the Battle 4 Atlantis after leading the Blue Devils to wins against Minnesota, Virginia Commonwealth and then-No. 2 Louisville.
Cook carried that strong play through the start of the ACC season, averaging 7.3 assists per game during Duke’s first eight conference games.
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But since then, the Quinn-sanity has died down.
“He’s not playing as well as he has played,” Krzyzewski said. “He can play better than he has the past couple weeks, and we need him to do that.”
In the 11 games since Cook’s hot start to conference play, he has dished out just 3.2 assists per game. On the season, he’s averaging 5.2, which ranks second in the ACC this year and the most for a Blue Devil since Chris Duhon’s 6.1 in the 2003-04 season.
The dip in dishes, however, has come with an increase in scoring, with Cook recording 14.3 points per game in those 11 games—more than his season average of 12.4.
“He’s so good at [passing] that I think he forgets that he can score the ball,” senior forward Mason Plumlee said.
Cook’s two best passing performances of the year came with two of his lowest scoring outputs of the season. Against Cornell, he had 12 assists in 26 minutes with six points. In the Blue Devils’ first conference game of the season against Wake Forest, Cook went 0-for-11 from the field and did not record a point but posted a career-high 14 assists.
Seven different players were the beneficiaries of Cook’s 14 assists against the Demon Deacons. Even redshirt freshman Marshall Plumlee’s only career field goal came in that game as the result of a Cook pass.
Six of the 14 assists resulted in 3-pointers. Others, such as his four dimes to Mason Plumlee, set up easy buckets close to the hoop.
More impressive than Cook’s assist totals was his ability to take care of the ball. In Duke’s first eight conference games he turned the ball over just 1.9 times per game for a 3.9 assist-to-turnover ratio. In the last 11 games, that ratio is just 1.3.
“When my assists were so high we had a lot of transition stuff,” Cook said. “It’s important for me to be at my best and push the tempo. I feel like we’re at our best when we’re in transition and all five guys on the floor are clicking.”
Plumlee has been the beneficiary of many of Cook’s assists and Duke’s fastbreak opportunities this season. No play exemplifies the duo’s connection better than an alley-oop during the Blue Devils’ comeback against Ohio State, when Cook floated a ball from beyond the 3-point line and Plumlee threw it down with one hand, though it initially appeared to be out of his grasp.
“He made me go get that one, that’s for sure,” Plumlee said. “We have some things set up for [alley-oops] because a lot of guys like to cheat screens and stuff like that. But we just have eye contact, and he knows to throw it up.”
One of the keys for Cook getting into transition is collecting his own rebounds. Although he might be the smallest Blue Devil—referring to himself as “6-foot on a good day”—he is third on the team in rebounding with 3.9 boards per game. During the last 11 games, though, he’s pulling in 3.5 per game, a drop off from the 4.4 he was averaging through the first eight games of ACC play.
“That’s basically when we’re at our best: when guards—myself, Rasheed [Sulaimon], Seth [Curry]—get rebounds because there’s no outlet, so it’s faster,” Cook said. “Mason gets a chance to run, Ryan [Kelly] gets to trail and get his threes there. Coach is really big on that—guards rebounding, long rebounds, getting in there and scrapping for rebounds.”
Although Cook has battled inconsistency this season, he has never given up his stranglehold on the point guard position, starting every game since taking over in the third game of the season. He is second on the team with 33.8 minutes per game.
And Krzyzewski said he is confident that his sophomore will break out of his funk, and that the funks will become less common as he matures.
“He’s had a really good few days of practice, and I think he’ll be ready to go,” Krzyzewski said. “The older you get, the better chance you have to be consistent.”
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