Over the next three weeks, The Blue Zone will be counting down the top five performances from each of Duke’s graduating seniors during their collegiate careers. This week, we start with forward Ryan Kelly.
Blue Devils sweep at Maui Invitational
The dates: November 21-23, 2011
The games: Duke 77, Tennessee 67; Duke 82, Michigan 75; Duke 68, Kansas 61
Kelly statline: In three games, Kelly tallied 51 points (averaging 17.0 ppg), 14 rebounds (4.7 rpg), and shot 16-18 from the charity stripe.
The breakdown: Hawaii's Maui Invitational was the first real test for the 2011-12 Duke team. Under Ryan Kelly's leadership, the Blue Devils passed with flying colors: Duke defeated two ranked opponents, won its fifth Maui Invitational, and extended its winning streak to 15-0 on the islands. Kelly earned MVP of the Tournament honors for his performance.
Kelly was certainly proficient on the offensive end, averaging 17.0 points per game against high-caliber defense, but the junior forward also set the tone on defense. Providing a stellar example for Duke's rookie backcourt of Austin Rivers and Quinn Cook, Kelly was relentless in his perimeter man-to-man.
Entering their opening-round matchup against the Blue Devils, the Volunteers had nailed 26 threes in their first two games, in which they went 2-0. Against Duke, however, they did not hit one shot from beyond the arc.
Kelly also displayed excellent physical stamina throughout the tournament—he played a total of 99 minutes (33 minutes per game) in the tournament. In the semi-final and final games, Kelly was allowed only four minutes of rest apiece.
The 2011-12 season marked an enormous increase in production for Kelly; his points per game and rebounds per game averages both nearly doubled from the previous season and he began to dramatically increased game minutes as a result of his improvement. The Maui Invitational was a significant benchmark in this development, one that earned Kelly increased confidence from both his teammates and the coaching staff.
The quote: “You get more comfortable with each other so you realize what a guy like Ryan can do, what Seth can do," Mason Plumlee said. "Playing with them in back-to-back-to-back games, you learn that.”
Previous Kelly performances:
No. 5: Kelly scores 20 points against Wake Forest
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