Stock Watch: Quinn's cooking again

The bell has rung and the Blue Zone stock exchange is back in business. Each week The Blue Zone will look at whose stock is on the rise and whose stock has taken a hit from the week in the Duke basketball world.

Bull Market—Trending Up

• Quinn Cook: Look who's back. The junior point guard finally found his stroke against Boston College, drilling five of his seven attempts from long-range en route to a 21-point outburst off of the pine. For Cook, it was just the fourth time in 11 conference games that he managed double-figures scoring after eclipsing 10 points 11 times in 13 nonconference games. He may not get his starting job back from Tyler Thornton after just one good game, but the resurgence of Cook is a good sign for the Blue Devils moving forward.
• Mason Plumlee: Plumlee had a bit of a roller coaster week with the Brooklyn Nets, but overall his arrow is pointing up. Before managing just two points in 10 minutes against Charlotte on Wednesday night, Plumlee set a career-high in points and matched his career-best mark in rebounds against the New Orleans Pelicans. In 28 minutes the middle Plumlee poured in 22 points and hauled in 13 boards. He added two blocks and three steals for good measure to propel Brooklyn to a 93-81 victory. His next test will be squaring off with his brother Miles in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge this Friday in New Orleans.
• Jabari Parker: Speaking of career-highs, Parker was unstoppable against Boston College. The freshman phenom effortlessly put in a career-high 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting while gathering a career-best 16 rebounds. If he hadn't shot a paltry 5-of-10 from the charity stripe Parker would have had an even more impressive statline. Parker has gone away from the 3-pointer to concentrate on scoring inside, and it has been working as well as anyone could have hoped. His 8-for-10 shooting performance against Wake Forest last week was his first game shooting better than 50 percent from the floor since Dec. 19 against UCLA. Parker in the paint has been a winning formula for Duke of late.

• Andre Dawkins: It sure wasn't 'Dre all day against Boston College. The graduate student has been a fixture in the Duke lineup this season thanks to his unique brand of instant-offense off the bench. But head coach Mike Krzyzewski completely ignored Dawkins in the second half, leaving 'Dre as a spectator for the entire second period in which the Blue Devils out-scored the Eagles 50-33 after taking just a four-point lead into the locker room. For Dawkins, it was his lowest minute total since the UCLA game and the first time he'd gone scoreless since an 0-for-3 shooting performance against Alabama Nov. 27. Dawkins will more than likely get another chance at major minutes against Maryland in Duke's next game, but with Thornton playing well and Cook figuring things out, minutes may be hard to find for Dawkins.
  
• Marcus Smart: At this point everyone knows the Marcus Smart story. The talented sophomore guard went into the crowd to shove a fan after insults were thrown Smart's way. We may never know what the fan in question did or did not say to Smart—the fan claims it was in no way racial—but I do know one thing for certain: no player should ever be going into the crowd to confront a fan. Smart's behavior was simply unacceptable. I understand he is just a 19 year old, but that doesn't excuse bad behavior. We are not too far removed from the Malice at the Palace brawl between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, and every single basketball player should know the severity of stepping foot into the crowd after that debacle. To put the cherry on top, Smart's poor decision making led to a three game suspension, something Oklahoma State could not afford given its recent struggles even with Smart on the floor.
  
• North Carolina Manager: As is the tradition, the men's basketball managers for both Duke and North Carolina faced off in a basketball game on the eve of what was supposed to be the day of the big game between the old Tobacco Road rivals. During the game, freshman Duke manager Drew Goldstein caught an elbow to the head from a Carolina manager. The video is a bit grainy, but from the looks of it the elbow doesn't seem malicious, but rather an attempt to secure the rebound and protect against a turnover. However, it's a pickup game. There's no need for the excessive use of the elbows in a game like that. There's a reason that an elbow above the shoulders is an automatic flagrant foul in the NCAA. While it didn't look intentional, the manager who delivered the brutal blow to Goldstein's head should be more cognizant of the noggins of the other players on the court around him.