After a sluggish 78-61 victory over lowly Southern, Duke will look to get back to its dominant form Monday against Furman before heading to Portland to compete in the inaugural PK80 tournament against stronger competition. Here are the three keys to the game:
Improved Shooting from the Charity Stripe
Although free-throw shooting should not be a major factor coming down the stretch Monday night, a strong showing from the line would temporarily relieve some concerns. Friday night’s 64.9 percent conversion rate was a season-high for the Blue Devils, who attempted a whopping 37 attempts in the game.
The main area of concern has been the shooting of the freshman frontcourt duo—Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr. Bagley, who has gone to the line 18 times, is shooting just 38.9 percent, while Carter is shooting 66.7 percent on 21 attempts. The problem has also seeped into the backcourt, with Trevon Duval converting on just 58.3 percent of his opportunities. But Bagley says he isn't too rattled by his early shortcomings.
“I know I can shoot free throws,” Bagley said after the game Friday. “They’re just not falling for me right now. I’ve been shooting free throws my whole life and I've been making them. It’s just going to take little adjustments and small things, and it’ll eventually fall. I’m confident in that.”
Gary Trent Jr. regains his form
After starting the season hot, Trent has seen a considerable drop-off in his scoring, renewing concerns about this young squad's shooting ability. Against Elon and Utah Valley, the freshman shooting guard shot 46.2 percent overall and 53.8 percent from deep en-route to 34 total points.
But against Michigan State, he shot just 3-for-14 overall and 1-for-7 from deep to contribute just seven points. His struggles continued against Southern with a 27.3 percent shooting performance for eight points. If Trent can return to his early season form and knock down shots, he will build up confidence and cause problems for defenses in the future.
Run the half-court offense
Although it might be tempting to let Duval and the offense run in transition—where they have thrived thus far—playing a relatively easy opponent in Furman offers an opportunity to smooth out the kinks in Duke’s half-court offense.
Against Southern, which did a great job of limiting the Blue Devils on the break, Duke coughed up the ball 15 times. Instead of pushing the ball Monday night, the young squad should try to work out set plays and improve on Friday’s performance. If the half-court set does not improve, stronger teams in ACC play will be able to limit the potent offense if they can slow down the pace.
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