Duke Basketball: What to Watch for in the 2014 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic

If the college basketball season is just a glorified practice run for the NCAA tournament in March, the Duke Blue Devils will pick up some valuable March Madness-style experience on Friday and Saturday in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

After handling Michigan State on Tuesday night in Indianapolis, Duke plays Temple on Friday and then either Stanford or UNLV on Saturday in Brooklyn on a neutral floor.

There are a few things that fans should watch for at this event, especially in that first game against Temple. Before you get too confident heading into a matchup with the unranked Owls, just know that Temple has beaten a Top 10 team in five of the past six seasons.

The first aspect of the game that Duke has to take care of in both contests is the rebounding. This has been harped on before, but it was a serious problem for the Blue Devils a season ago and was the one reason Michigan State stayed in the game on Tuesday.

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Hitting the glass was a supposed strength for the Blue Devils entering the 2014-15 campaign, and it still may be by season’s end, but the first quality team that Duke played killed it on the glass. Michigan State grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and ended up with a 35-25 rebounding advantage.

Duke won 81-71, but it would have been much more of a blowout victory if it kept the Spartans off the glass.

Michigan State certainly deserves some credit because it is always one of the most physical teams in the nation, but Mike Krzyzewski took the time to comment on the rebounding discrepancy after the game, according to The Associated Press, via ESPN.com: "I thought we handled it well. They get loose balls and rebounds really well, and that's the thing, for us to get better, we're going to have to learn to do."

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Temple was plus-22 in its first two games of the year on the boards, albeit against weaker competition in American and Louisiana Tech, so it is worth keeping an eye on.

Outside of the rebounding, look for Duke to pound Jahlil Okafor down low against the Owls. Temple is best with a small-ball lineup, but that probably won’t work against the dominant Okafor.

The freshman has missed a whopping five shots all season and earned this praise from Coach K, via Laura Keeley of The (Raleigh) News & Observer:

Temple does have some size to counter Okafor with Obi Enechionyia, Devontae Watson and Jimmy McDonnell, but none of those players have averaged more than 14.5 minutes a game in the early going for the Owls. Either Temple will have to deal with Okafor completely dominating it down low, or it will have to play outside of its comfort zone with the substitution rotation.

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Okafor’s combination of size, footwork and ability to score on the low block was well-known coming into the season, but he has been even more impressive than expected.

It is no coincidence that the Blue Devils are shooting a ridiculous 60.2 percent from the field and scoring 101 points a game. Yes, he is doing plenty of that on his own, but defenders are forced to collapse on him, which opens up a litany of shooters on the outside.

If Okafor can help the Blue Devils get out to an early lead, it will be interesting to see how Krzyzewski utilizes his bench.

Matt Jones was the only reserve who played more than 12 minutes in the win over Michigan State. Rasheed Sulaimon only played 12. Duke has two games in two days, so fresh legs will be important, especially for Saturday’s contest.

Look for Coach K to use his bench more often against Temple than he did against the Spartans, especially since Duke should have a clear talent advantage.

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One more thing to watch on Friday is how Krzyzewski uses Justise Winslow on defense against Temple. The Owls’ two key players are guards Will Cummings and Quenton DeCosey, and Winslow may be asked to guard one or both at some point throughout the game.

Cummings has struggled to find the basket in the early going (15.4 percent shooting from the field), but he has done a little bit of everything in the stat sheet. He is posting nightly averages of 13.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, four assists and two steals and is certainly the leader of this squad.

DeCosey poured in 15.4 points a game last season and gives Temple a three-point threat alongside Cummings.

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Winslow is the best perimeter defender on the Duke roster, and he boasts an NBA combination of length and athleticism. The question is which Temple player Krzyzewski will use Winslow on or if he will switch around throughout the contest.

Winslow will be the key to the Duke defense as he attempts to force turnovers and make life difficult for an offense that scored a grand total of 40 points against American. If he does, and Okafor spearheads the offensive effort, the Blue Devils should rack up a straightforward victory against Temple. 

That same formula will work on Saturday as well, regardless of the opponent.

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