Stock Watch: Jabari Parker continues to shine bright

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

• Jabari Parker: We all know Parker is very good, but boy has he been something special lately. After an uncharacteristically poor shooting night against Virginia Tech last week, when he shot just 3-for-11, Parker bounced back with a 7-for-11 performance against Wake Forest in an upsetting road loss. The diaper dandy has also quietly become the best rebounder in the ACC, leading the conference with 9.0 per game. Parker has recorded double-digit rebounds in five straight, six of his last seven, and nine of his last 12. Parker is also third in the conference in offensive rebounding, trailing just T.J. Warren of N.C. State and Talib Zanna of Pittsburgh. Did I mention he's also philanthropic, giving out Jabari Bars to the Duke faithful in Krzyzewskiville?
• Travis McKie: McKie gets the shout-out for his superb sportsmanship at the finish of his Demon Deacons' upset of the Blue Devils. Once the flood gates opened and the court was engulfed by students donning green and black, McKie went back into the scrum and pulled Rasheed Sulaimon out of harms way and to the sideline where the players were still exchanging postgame handshakes. McKie deserves praise for thinking of the opponent in the midst of a raucous celebration.
  
• Shavlik Randolph: Say hello to the newest Duke alumnus in the NBA. Shavlik Randolph inked a deal with the Phoenix Suns this week after playing six games in China with the Foshon Long Lions, who currently employ another former Duke forward—Lance Thomas. Randolph averaged 20.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per game in China before being scooped up by Suns general manager Ryan McDonough, who was an assistant GM with the Boston Celtics while Randolph was there last season. Randolph has played a total of 24 minutes in his first two games in Phoenix, helping to pick up the slack for an injured Miles Plumlee.
  

• Rasheed Sulaimon: Sulaimon's big breakout game came against Wake Forest when the Demon Deacons traveled to Durham in February. Fast forward to the second meeting between the two teams and Sulaimon's stock is plummeting. Sure, Sulaimon continues to be a fine distributor, but he cannot find the bottom of the basket of late. After shooting 5-of-13 from the field against Wake Forest, Sulaimon is shooting just 33.9 percent from the floor since Feb. 8. From beyond the arc it's even uglier, as the sophomore is hitting at just a 31.3 percent clip. Duke clearly needs more production out of Sulaimon than what he's been putting up of late.
• Amile Jefferson: Another sophomore who has seen his usefulness plunge in recent games. In his past four games Jefferson is averaging 3.5 fouls per game compared to just 3.8 points. He also has reached the five rebound mark just once in his past five contests. He is obviously a big part of what Duke does, but he just hasn't been able to put it together of late. Marshall Plumlee starting the second half against Wake Forest Wednesday could be a sign that Jefferson's time in the starting lineup is about to expire.
  
• Syracuse Orange: Syracuse's loss to Georgia Tech looked a whole lot worse before Duke's loss to Wake Forest, but it's pretty bad nonetheless. The Orange are now losers of four of their last five after dropping a game to the Yellow Jackets on their own home court. With Jerami Grant sidelined, Syracuse's woefully thin roster is glaringly obvious. The Orange haven't had a double-digit win since Feb. 8, and they have had just three wins of more than 10 points in conference play. For comparison's sake, Duke had four such wins in the month of February alone.