What Duke Stands to Gain in the Remainder of This Season

Duke men’s basketball is currently 20-4 overall and 7-3 in the ACC. The Blue Devils are in second place in the ACC. But the team is just 2-3 in its last five games after starting 18-1.

Coming into this season, many projected this year’s team to be better suited for an extended NCAA Tournament run compared to the previous two tournaments. Duke held the No. 1 ranking for just one week this year before losing at Wake Forest.

Many cited this team’s favorable chances to advance deeper in the NCAA Tournament primarily because of its depth and also because of its tremendous team defense.

Depth has served Duke well so far this season. Coach Mike Krzyzewski employs as much as an 11-man rotation, with nine players averaging over 10 minutes per game.

Defensively, Duke holds its opponents to just 62.7 points per game. Duke enjoys a turnover margin of +3.6, despite troubles of its own. And Duke also ranks 14th nationally in steals per game (9.1).

Duke can’t control what has happened so far this season. The loss at Michigan and the 27-point blowout loss at Clemson are the low points, clearly. The near completion of a comeback at Wake Forest and the surrender of an eight-point halftime lead at home to North Carolina are the disappointments.

Regardless, much is left to gain for the Duke Blue Devils this season. A regular season ACC championship is within reach. An ACC Tournament title is certainly within the realm of possibility. And a Final Four berth is seemingly doable.

Starting with the ACC regular season championship, Duke is only one loss behind the current leader, North Carolina. The rematch of last Wednesday’s game in Durham will be played Mar. 8 in Chapel Hill, perhaps for a share or outright claim of the conference title.

Before that game, however, Duke must survive a brutal upcoming schedule; three road games against Boston College, Maryland, and Virginia Tech and home games versus Wake Forest and Florida State stand in the way. And then the aforementioned rematch concludes Duke’s regular season.

In terms of the ACC Tournament title, Duke is capable of crafting a four-game stretch good enough to claim the title. Certainly, many of the remaining foes on Duke’s schedule will be most formidable in this tournament.

And ultimately, Duke seeks to not only advance further this season in the NCAA Tournament than the previous two instances, a first-round loss to Virginia Commonwealth in 2007 and a second-round loss to West Virginia last year, but also to reclaim its stake as a national power with a Final Four berth.

How Duke will pursue its attempt to regain its place as one of college basketball’s elite programs is unclear. That is left for Coach K to decide. However, the way in which Duke should go after these titles this season is crystal clear.

First and foremost, Duke must be relentless on defense. If the old adage “Defense wins championships” holds true, Duke has as good of a chance of any this season. As good as Duke seems on defense, it doesn’t statistically fare as well nationally as one might think.

Secondly, its offensive efficiency must not only improve but also begin to stabilize. Specifically, this team needs to find a third scorer behind Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson. And Duke must start relying less on making three-pointers to keep pace with the opposing offense.

Lastly, since turnovers have been an issue for Duke in losses (sometimes in wins also), this team must understand the value of each offensive possession. Each time a player turns it over, Duke loses an opportunity to score, which is difficult enough to do already.

For some Duke fans, the writing is on the wall. They’re thinking this team is no different from the previous two editions of Duke basketball. For others, they are optimistic, hoping this team is able to prove the detractors wrong.

The rest of the college basketball world is wondering if Duke can manage to find its stride once again in the NCAA Tournament because the success everyone was used to seeing from Duke has been hiding lately.

So in essence, Duke stands to gain nearly everything in the remainder of this season.

An ACC regular season championship would be impressive, considering Duke’s current position in the standings. Overcoming a one-loss deficit is more difficult than it appears.

An ACC Tournament title is never something to take for granted; there, the victor is always worthy of some praise for that feat. Winning three or four games in as many days is truly remarkable after finishing the brute that is the ACC regular season.

And, most importantly, a Final Four berth would give Duke the opportunity to regain national acclaim, something that needs to be restored.