Five Reasons Why the Duke Blue Devils Will Win the ACC

At the start of the season, Duke and North Carolina were voted as co-favorites to win the ACC for the first time in the conference's history.

Now that the out of conference schedules are winding down and conference play is on the horizon, no team looks as poised to win the ACC as the Duke Blue Devils.

Duke's season started with a myriad of unanswered questions.

Would point guard play be a problem?

Could Duke establish solid post play?

How would the Blue Devils deal with having only three scholarship guards?

With 11 wins and a lone loss to Wisconsin in Madison, Duke has been able to answer those questions more than adequately.

Make no mistake, the Blue Devils are the hands-down favorite to win the ACC heading into conference play.

Here's five reasons why.

1.  Jon Scheyer is the best point guard in the ACC

Prior to the season, Scheyer's role as Duke's point guard was one of the biggest causes for skepticism surrounding the Blue Devils.

That skepticism is gone.

Scheyer is currently averaging 18.6 points per game to go along with 6.4 assists and an incredible 5.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

To put things in perspective, Scheyer's assist-to-turnover ratio is the best in college basketball, and his scoring average is second in the ACC.

In fact, Scheyer's play has been so strong that if the voting for ACC player of the year took place today, it's likely that Scheyer would come away with the award (who would have guessed).

In a league with a shortage of elite guards, Scheyer has risen to the top of the ranks as the ACC's best point guard.

2.  The triple "S" threat.

No team in the ACC is able to throw as many offensive weapons at opponents as the Blue Devils can with Scheyer, Kyle Singler, and Nolan Smith.

Scheyer, Singler, and Smith make up the Blue Devils' triple "S" threat, and they are a trio that puts a lot of points on the board.

Smith has been phenomenal this season, averaging an ACC third best scoring average of 18 points per game (remember that Scheyer has the league's second best scoring average).

Singler is averaging 15.9 points per game, not to mention over seven rebounds, despite going through a bit of a shooting slump.

No other team in the ACC has more than one player ranked in the top 10 of ACC scoring—Duke has three in the top 10 with Scheyer, Singler, and Smith.

3.  Brian Zoubek is having his best year ever at Duke

It's no secret that post play has been a major weakness at Duke for the last few years.

Though highly touted coming out of high school, Zoubek (who was injury-prone during his first few years) has never lived up to expectations and given the Blue Devils solid production in the paint.

This season has been a completely different story, however.

Zoubek is averaging seven points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

While those numbers may not seem like anything special, his level of production per minute played has been off the charts (he only averages 16.7 minutes per game).

He is currently ranked first in the NCAA in offensive rebounding percentage.

Zoubek is first in the ACC and eighth in the NCAA in field goal percentage.

Prior to Duke's game against Pennsylvania, Zoubek was ranked second in the NCAA in rebounds per minute played, trailing only Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins.

Since most Blue Devil fans were looking to the younger Plumlee brothers to solve Duke's post problems, Zoubek's play has been a pleasant surprise, allowing Duke's younger frontcourt players to develop at a realistic pace.

The ACC is loaded with frontcourt talent, and Zoubek gives the Blue Devils an experienced and savvy 260-pound seven-footer to contend with the likes of Ed Davis and Derrick Favors.

4.  Shooter's Touch

Last year, Duke's  dependence on the three was undeniable.

The average number of three point attempts among ACC teams last season was 603—Duke shot 766, taking 82 more three point attempts than Clemson, who was second in the ACC in three pointers attempted.

Despite the high number of threes taken by the Blue Devils, they were only fifth in the ACC in three point percentage, shooting 34.9 percent from behind the arc.

Fortunately for Duke, their inside scoring is much better than in previous years—Duke's four post players are combining for 25.6 points per game as compared to 11.2 points per game last year.

But even if the Blue Devils had to live by the three this season, they would be much more equipped to do so than in previous years.

They are currently first in the ACC in three point percentage, shooting almost 10 percent more than last season at 43.3 percent.

Despite their success from behind the arc, and thanks to the improved post scoring, the Blue Devils are third in the ACC in three pointers taken.

That's a lot of numbers and rankings to digest, but suffice it to say that last season, Duke was more dependent on threes for offense than any ACC team by a long shot despite barely being in the top half of the conference in three point percentage.

This season, Duke is the best three point shooting team in the ACC even though they haven't been as dependent on long range shots for offense.

The Blue Devils might not be as reliant on threes this year, but they are a lot better at making them.

5.  Getting Guys Involved

Duke's offensive strategy last season often boiled down to getting Gerald Henderson the ball, setting an on the ball screen for him, and watching him make a remarkable play.

Sure, Scheyer and Singler scored a lot of points too, but the attention Henderson demanded from defenses freed up a lot of looks for his teammates. 

This Duke team lacks a player with Henderson's ability to make athletic shots in times of need (although Smith shows flashes of that ability), but the Blue Devils have responded by running an offense that gets more players involved and, consequently, gives more players offensive looks.

Duke is second in the ACC in assists with 17.7 per game—that's 4.4 more assists per game than last year.

As a result, eight Blue Devils are scoring five points or more per game as compared to only five players scoring that much last year.

Because of the increase in assists and team involvement on offense, the Blue Devils are scoring almost 10 more points per game than last season despite losing three of their top seven scorers, including their leading scorer in Henderson.

Final Thoughts

At this point in the season, the Blue Devils are the best team in the ACC.

They lead the ACC is scoring offense, margin of victory, free throw percentage, three point percentage, and assist-to-turnover ratio.

No team in the ACC has as many scoring threats as the Blue Devils, and Duke holds their own on the boards as well as any team in the conference.

If their stars can stay healthy and fresh, the Blue Devils should win the ACC in convincing fashion.