After a grueling five-game stretch, the Blue Devils are ready to get back in the saddle.
With most students leaving town for Thanksgiving, No. 4 Duke makes its return to Cameron Indoor Stadium Wednesday at 5 p.m. against Furman. Fresh off claiming the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic with a pair of wins in the Big Apple, the Blue Devils will open a two-game home-stand with the Paladins before heading to Madison, Wisc., next week for a ballyhooed showdown with No. 2 Wisconsin.
Despite a deep roster, the mental and physical grind of five games in nine nights wore down the team, and Duke (5-0) received a much-needed day off Sunday for rest and recovery.
"Naturally, guys were a little tired by the end of the stretch," assistant coach Jon Scheyer said. "They did a really good job, especially the last game, of focusing and locking in, taking care of business.... The guys handled it very maturely."
Last weekend in Brooklyn, the Blue Devil offense struggled for the first time all season. Despite shooting less than 40 percent from the floor, Duke cruised to a 20-point win against Temple Friday with a resounding defensive performance.
After last season's struggles defending the interior, the Blue Devils have clamped down defensively so far this year, meaning Duke can still win comfortably even when the offense isn't clicking.
"We learned [that] we can be a good defensive team," Scheyer said. "We showed that we have the athleticism to get out and pressure teams and make it hard for them to run their offense.... Not every game is going to be the prettiest game, [but it's about] ultimately figuring out a way to win. That's something we need to continue to do."
Freshman Jahlil Okafor continues to be the key cog in the Blue Devil machine on both ends of the floor. Defensively, the Chicago native commands the paint and discourages guards from driving the lane. On offense, the 6-foot-11 center receives attention from all five defenders and has set up teammates for easy baskets with excellent passing.
When Okafor struggled against the Owls Friday night—missing 10 shots in the first half—he didn't let it affect his defensive game. Instead, he battled on the boards and found his stroke after halftime, posting his first career double-double.
The Duke defense is allowing just 57.4 points per game this season, due in large part to the 9.6 Blue Devil thefts per contest. Identifying and keying in on the opposing team's go-to scorer has proven successful for the team so far. Although Stanford's Chasson Randle—the program's third-all-time-leading scorer and a darkhorse Pac-12 Player of the Year Candidate—scored 22 points against Duke Saturday night in New York, the senior needed 17 shots to do so.
"We've been a little up and down with that; for the most part, we've been really good," Scheyer said. "That's something we want to improve on—we know the other team's best player, we want to lock in and make it a miserable night for him, and I don't think that we did that with Randle."
Furman's go-to scorer is point guard Stephen Croone; the junior averaged 19.1 points and 3.7 assists last year and leads the Paladins in both categories again in the early going this season.
Croone will draw the attention of Duke guards Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones, who will use their ball pressure to prevent Croone from getting Furman (1-2) into its motion offense.
"He's a guy that, if you leave open, he's going to hit a shot," Scheyer said. "He's really good because of his ability to shoot and get in the lane and penetrate. He averaged eight free throws a game last year, so a key for us is to keep him off the line [where he] can get some easy points that way. His ability to penetrate also gets other guys shots like [junior Larry Wideman] or [freshman Daniel] Fowler. They play off him."
With Thanksgiving sandwiched between Wednesday's game and Duke's Sunday tilt against Army, Scheyer said the Blue Devils are planning a get-together in Durham after being out of town during the holiday for the last handful of years.
"We've never been here for Thanksgiving in a little while, so it's a bit unusual," Scheyer said. "But we will get together in some fashion as a team, make sure we all eat some good turkey, some gravy, all that good stuff."
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