Duke Basketball: Biggest Focal Point for Each Blue Devils' Rotation Player

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is known for not using many players in his rotation, especially late in the season, but in 2015-16 this has been taken to the extreme. Injuries and a lack of quality reserves have the Blue Devils effectively using only six players on a regular basis, and each had a major role to play in every game.

However, all six of these rotation players have one focal point that is more important than anything else. It's the area they need to concentrate on the most in order for Duke to be successful, since there's no one else there to do it if they struggle.

Here's a look at what each of Duke's six key players should be most concerned with as the 2015-16 season heads toward March.

Grayson Allen

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Staying aggressive

No one needs to remind Grayson Allen what he does best, since there's rarely been an offensive possession where he hasn't been running all over the court. The sophomore guard's boundless energy has enabled him to make a huge leap from his first season, sitting as Duke's leading scorer at 21 points per game.

Allen can score from all over, but he's most effective when taking the ball to the basket. This either leads to layups in traffic, draws a foul or sucks in the defense to where he can kick it out to an open shooter on the perimeter. As a result, Allen is also the Blue Devils' top assist man and most frequent free-throw shooter.

Brandon Ingram

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Taking care of the ball

A matchup nightmare who regularly finds himself being guarded by someone either too small or too slow, 6'9” freshman wing Brandon Ingram can dominate a game inside and out. That's assuming he doesn't turn the ball over, which has become a problem of late.

Ingram gave the ball away 10 times Saturday in Duke's loss at the Louisville Cardinals, giving him 18 turnovers in the past four games. He's at 57 for the season, most of any Blue Devils player, raising his turnover rate to 12.4 percent.

Matt Jones

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Leadership

Not having Matt Jones on the court against Louisville meant more than just missing his shooting, his ball-handling and his presence in the rotation. By the junior guard sitting out with an ankle injury, Duke was without its most experienced player in terms of minutes and starts.

Jones has become the mother hen of this Blue Devils team, even more so since Amile Jefferson got hurt in December. Marshall Plumlee has been around longer, but he's in his first season starting and isn't as much of a vocal leader, while Jones is the elder statesmen of a guard group in which two others are freshman and the other (sophomore Grayson Allen) didn't play much in 2014-15.

Luke Kennard

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Making his shots count

Luke Kennard might be only shooting 33.1 percent from three-point range, but he's arguably Duke's best shooter when he finds the right spot. That's included more and more two-point shots as the season has evolved, with him hitting 54.9 percent inside the arc, including 57.4 percent on twos in ACC play.

The freshman is also Duke's best foul shooter, at 89.4 percent, and he's learned when it's better to draw contact rather than try to get off a contested shot that isn't the best look.

Marshall Plumlee

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Stamina

Marshall Plumlee's minutes have gone up in each season he's been with Duke, from a scant 50 as a freshman to 375 last season. And then came 2015-16, when he's become a starter for the first time and, through circumstances outside his control, the Blue Devils' only true post player for much of the season.

The 7'0” senior has played more minutes this year (825) than in the previous three (678) combined, and it's taken every bit of his energy to average 30.6 minutes per game. In ACC play that number is 35.8 minutes, with freshman Chase Jeter only occasionally able to step in for him for a minute or two here or there.

Derryck Thornton

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Ball-handling

Derryck Thornton should still be in high school, but instead he's the only true point guard for the defending national champions. That's a lot to ask of an 18-year-old player, and it's why Duke didn't turn to him much earlier in the year. Now that's no longer an option, so Thornton has to come through whenever asked.

This is best done by being careful with the ball—he has just 25 turnovers in 14 ACC games—and moving the ball around to the best option. This doesn't always result in an assist, but he's become adept at running the offense far more than at the outset when Matt Jones and Grayson Allen handled most of the point guard minutes.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.