After taking down North Carolina 74-74 in the semifinal, Duke will Take on Florida State in the ACC tournament final Saturday at 8:30 p.m. The Blue Zone looks at a key player for each team:
Duke: Forward Javin DeLaurier
Following a subpar performance against North Carolina, Javin DeLaurier will have to turn in a career game to lead the Blue Devils to a victory in their last game before tournament play.
Last night, the Shipman, V.A., native started the game, but only played a total of fifteen minutes. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski deferred instead to the normally shooting shirt-laden Antonio Vrankovic for the spark that Duke so desperately needed with Marques Bolden remaining on the bench with a knee injury.
DeLaurier’s five-point, four-personal foul performance will not suffice against a Florida State squad coming off an emotional win against top-seeded Virginia. For the Seminoles, it is only their third ACC Tournament final appearance, winning their first and only championship in 2012 againsr North Carolina. Florida State will walk in the Spectrum Center on Saturday night hungry for another title, and DeLaurier will need to prove instrumental in containing the energy that the ‘Noles will surely bring to the floor.
Florida State traditionally starts a three-guard lineup, but to assume it is a run-and-gun transition-oriented team would be failing to look more closely. The smallest Seminole that will likely be present for the tip is junior guard Trent Forrest, who comes in at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. In the half-court set, DeLaurier wiill need to give Zion Williamson some help on the defensive end, especially if the Blue Devils continue to stress their willingness to switch. The fact is, if Tre Jones finds himself staring down 6-foot-10 Mfiondu Kabengele or even monstrous 7-foot-4 Christ Koumadje in the post, the help defense provided by Duke’s big men will be instrumental in preventing the Seminoles from dominating the paint and the offensive glass.
On the offensive end, DeLaurier will need to be the spark if R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish continue to struggle from the outside. With most of the defensive resources focused on Duke’s four freshmen, the junior forward often finds himself alone in the restricted area, two or even three players drawn to a driving Barrett or Zion Williamson. DeLaurier simply needs to convert his easy tries, converting layups from the inside off quick passes or even offensive rebounds.
If Duke is to win, look for Javin DeLaurier to play an instrumental role, staying on the floor for twenty or more minutes and grabbing multiple offensive boards along with shutting down the big men on the other end.
Florida State: Everyone
This is not a drill.
Florida State will need its entire playable roster to contribute to snag an ACC Championship from the clutches of the Blue Devils.
This is not to say that they will need to play an impeccable game. We have seen the Blue Devils falter in many areas that the Seminoles could exploit.
But coming into the game Saturday night, the Seminoles carry a roster with ten players averaging over ten minutes per game throughout the season, with guard Devin Vassell coming in at a close 9.8. Not every player sees game time every contest, but they have all played in a majority, the lowest coming in at 21 of 33 games played. In comparison, Duke only has eight of these such players. The depth of the Florida State roster will be instrumental in wearing a Blue Devil team down that is similarly coming into its third game in three days.
There is rebounding up and down the lineup. There is passing, shooting, and defense present no matter the name called by coach Leonard Hamilton. It will simply be a matter of everyone on the Seminole bench doing their part to beat a Duke team coming off their biggest win of the year.
Maybe it will be Christ Koumadje who will turn in a big performance, like he did against Virginia with nine points to go with nine boards. Maybe it will be Terrance Mann, who played every second of the win against Virginia Tech, posting ten points and four assists while grabbing nine balls off the glass. Or maybe it will be Trent Forrest, who turned in eleven points and five assists against Wake Forrest the previous week.
This Seminole squad has proven to the world that it can find a way to beat your team no matter who is having a good game or a bad one— because there will always be someone raring to go that can flip the contest on its head at any point. There is no doubt that Florida State is looking for a statement win heading into the tournament, and absolutely anyone on their bench or on the floor can help them do that come 8:30 p.m. tonight.
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