Duke Basketball: How Quinn Cook Is Exceeding Expectations in 2014-15

Quinn Cook is a captain on the Duke basketball team.

Quinn Cook is a senior.

Quinn Cook is playing some of the best basketball of his life and has far exceeded preseason expectations in the early going.

Quinn Cook has been completely overshadowed on the national stage by his teammates.

Such is life when you play with a group of future NBA players under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke.

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After all, Jahlil Okafor is the dominant force down low who has wowed college basketball fans and scouts already, Tyus Jones is the freshman point guard who looks like a seasoned vet and single-handedly controlled the monumental win at Wisconsin, and Justise Winslow is the freak athlete who shuts down the opponent’s best player and makes highlight reels by jumping over someone and blocking his shot at the same time.

It is a testament to Cook’s team-first approach and overall ability that he is quietly putting up some of the best numbers of his career in an undefeated start.

Coming into the season, expectations surrounding Cook were not exactly promising. From the 2012-13 campaign to the 2013-14 season, his per-game averages in points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, free-throw percentage, three-point percentage and minutes played all decreased. It was an across-the-board regression, and it resulted in a lesser role as a junior.

Rasheed Sulaimon stole significant point guard minutes down the stretch last year, partially because of Cook’s aforementioned offensive struggles, but more so because Sulaimon was the superior perimeter defender. Duke’s biggest weakness last season was its defense and ability to keep ball-handlers from the lane where there were no rim protectors waiting.

Cook’s inability to stay in front of his man at times only exacerbated those issues.

Those 2013-14 struggles led to low expectations from those outside the program about Cook’s production and overall role in 2014-15, especially since Jones was coming to campus as the future starting point guard. It appears as if those expectations were wildly misplaced thus far.

Cook’s 15.3 points a game are second on the team, his field-goal percentage is all the way up to 51.8 and his three-point percentage sits at an impressive 44.2. What’s more, his free-throw percentage is a borderline-ridiculous 92.9, and his minutes and rebounding are both up. Most importantly, he is only turning the ball over once a night. 

Jeff Goodman of ESPN acknowledged how impressive Cook’s numbers have been thus far:

Cook has scored in double figures in every single game this season and saved some of his best scoring performances for the bigger contests, including 19 points against Michigan State and 18 against Stanford. He has even hit three or more three-pointers in six of Duke’s eight games.

It’s not just the improvement in Cook's raw statistics that should have Duke fans thrilled, though. He is playing off the ball in a new role and looks incredibly comfortable doing so, which makes Krzyzewski’s job of settling on effective rotations all the easier.

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Scoring off the ball comes naturally with a point guard like Jones there to direct the offense and set Cook up with timely passes off penetration. Cook is also converting on golden opportunities from beyond the three-point line that come when opponents throw double teams at Okafor.

Goodman was also impressed with how Cook has adapted to his new role already:

The way that Cook is working with Jones in particular in the backcourt caught the eye of Jeff Borzello of ESPN as well:

Maybe the most encouraging news in terms of the team’s tournament chances is that Cook’s defense has improved.

He will never be mistaken for an all-world defender, but there is also not nearly as much pressure on him to be a game-changer on that end of the floor. Winslow is consistently defending the opponent’s best player, and Okafor camps down low to protect the rim and clean up any messes, which takes the pressure off the entire Duke team.

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Cook just looks more comfortable and looser on the floor, whereas he appeared to be pressing down the stretch last season, especially when he started to lose minutes. 

A captain is supposed to lead by example, and Cook is doing just that by quietly going about his business and putting up All-ACC numbers in the early going, all while being overshadowed by teammates. If that continues, the Blue Devils will find themselves in contention for the national championship in April.

That is all that matters to the captain.

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