Duke continues its stretch of games at home Saturday night against Stetson, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. The Blue Zone takes a quick look at three keys to the game for the Blue Devil squad to keep its non-conference home winning streak alive.
Free Throw Shooting
Against the Indiana Hoosiers, Duke managed to convert field goal attempts almost as often as they did free throw attempts. On a great day, this would mean that the Blue Devils were shooting the daylights out of the gym, but that was not one of those such days.
Duke shot a lowly 58.6 percent from the charity stripe last Tuesday night, including Cam Reddish’s 2-of-7 and Zion Williamson’s 3-of-6. This is one of the only problems that has truly plagued the Blue Devils game to game— other issues like poor 3-point shooting and shoddy transition defense seem to only last one contest before they are rectified.
If Duke wishes to take the Stetson Hatters out of the game early, and more importantly win close games in conference play and towards the end of the season, the team will need to elevate its performance from the foul line.
Foul Trouble
Again, we must revisit the basics for a game that Duke should win handily. Foul trouble has been an issue on and off for the Blue Devils but was particularly evident against the Hoosiers. R.J. Barrett fouled out with over eight minutes left to play in the game last Tuesday, and Reddish along with Javin DeLaurier picked up four apiece, forcing head coach Mike Krzyzewski to bench them longer than usual.
Stetson’s best hope to stay in the contest is, very simply, to take Blue Devil players out of it. If Duke can manage to not have multiple people in the doghouse in the first ten minutes of the game, the Hatters (1-7) should not be much of a match for the No. 3 overall ranked team in the nation.
Discipline can be best mastered in these early nonconference matches, so when Duke faces a big-time foe in conference play or the tournament, it will be ingrained into its game. Look for the Blue Devils to play aggressive, but smart.
Staying In Front of Christiaan Jones
Defensively, the biggest key to victory will be staying in front of Stetson’s Christiaan Jones and not allowing him to get open looks at the hoop.
Duke has more than enough size to contend with the Hatters on the glass, even considering the Hatters’ second leading scorer Abayomi Iyiola, comes in at a lanky 6-foot-9. The defense in the paint thus far for the Blue Devils has been nothing short of superb, and it should be more than enough to contain Stetson’s 210 lb. forward.
Where Duke has seen occasional struggles is contending with speed.
At 6-foot-4, Jones has a decent paint presence. Against the Duke squad, however, what will come more into focus is his ability to hit from three and getting open. Taking on a large off-ball role, look for Jones to work his way open by any means necessary. He has not shot well from three thus far this year, sinking only around 26 percent of his tries, so look for him to try to beat a defender clean on a cut to the hoop.
If Duke can find any success in defending Christiaan Jones’ versatility, they should manhandle the Hatters to a large victory in front of a home crowd.
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