We’re in Year 4 of the Scheyer era now, and at the beginning of every year, the defense has been ahead of the offense. And that’s good.
However, when you look at where Duke is now, while the defense is rugged,
the offense, while not firing on all cylinders yet, is highly promising. Let’s consider a few things.
- Cameron Boozer is going to be a key factor, but we’re not really seeing his full game yet. We’d guess we’re seeing around 65-70 percent of his actual arsenal.
- Maliq Brown is generally seen as a defensive savant, and we get that. However, he’s a brilliant facilitator – as is Boozer, for that matter. Those two will make everyone better.
- Pat Ngongba is still emerging but like Brown and Boozer, he’s a savvy inside player. He’ll benefit from their passes, but he’ll make some too. He made a couple in March that were fantastic. All three are quick and instinctive passers.
- We’ve begun to see more of Nik Khamenia’s game. He is more willing to take threes now, for one thing, and he’s an outstanding shooter. But like Brown and Boozer, Khamenia is a tremendous passer. We haven’t seen much of that part of his game, but if you saw him play for Team USA this summer, you know it’s there, and it’s sweet.
- Isaiah Evans made his bones as a shooter, but with a year of serious training, he’s much stronger. You can’t just guard the three anymore.
- Evans and Caleb Foster combined for 12 rebounds against Western Carolina. That’s a nice asset if they can keep it up. Foster is showing signs of vastly improved confidence. His hard work is paying off.
- Cayden Boozer has more of an adjustment period than does his brother, but he had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 27 minutes against the Catamounts. If you’re counting, that’s 19 rebounds between three guards.
- Dame Sarr is unbelievably fast, but in his first two official games he’s missed four bunnies. It may be that he’s overthinking it but when he figures that out, the guy is a deadly weapon on the break. Once he gets untracked, all those passers Duke has are going to seek him out. Scheyer called Boozer out for being soft. Is he talking to Sarr about that too?
- Darren Harris may be the purest shooter on the team. He’ll start taking (and hitting) more shots. What we love about him so far though is his absolute willingness to dive for a ball. Last year, Kon Knueppel set the standard there. This year, it looks like Harris may lead the team in floor burns. Our favorite play Saturday was when Cayden Boozer hit the floor, someone else knocked the ball loose again and then Harris threw himself after it. That took some real heart.
- We got a brief view of Jack Scott and we love the cockiness in his game. And it appears to be earned. That guy has something. He’s just behind two other guys right now. He’s an asset if and when he’s needed.
Put it all together and squint a little bit and it’s hard not to like what you see. You have multiple guys who can get up and down the court. You have a great outlet passer in Boozer and also Brown. You have at least four guys who can really shoot from outside.
Add in a potent defense with Brown, Harris, Khamenia and Cayden Boozer coming off the bench, at least for now, and this team has the potential to be really, really good. It’s not fair to compare it to last year’s group, but that’s not necessary, either. This one is going to carve out its own identity.
