Kyrie Irving Injury: 12 Reasons Why the Blue Devils Can Still Win
Kyrie Irving was scoring 17.4 points per game, making 5.4 assists per game, and shooting 45.2% from 3-point territory. These are amazing numbers for the Duke point guard, and it would have been nice to see them for the entire season. Alas, this is not the case. Irving will be out for an extended period of time (and possibly the entire season) with a toe injury. This is of course devastating news for the Blue Devils... but don't write them off yet.
The Blue Devils are still favorites to win the NCAA Tournament, and for good reason. Losing Irving will be a big loss for Duke, and it is a concern, but Duke is still one of the best teams in college basketball, if not the best.
Mike Krzyzewski is one of the best coaches of all time, and he will know exactly what to do with his guys. Look for Duke to keep winning and hold steady at one of the best teams in the NCAA.
Here are a dozen reasons why the Dukies can and will keep winning.
Nolan Smith Will Take the Spotlight
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Nolan Smith was part of the Big 3 for Duke last year along with Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer. Smith was scoring 17.4 PPG in the regular season, and a big 16.0 PPG and 5.0 APG in the Final Four against Butler and West Virginia. When Irving was playing, Smith still posted double-digit points every game, but if you watched the games, he did not seem to be playing a big role. Since Irving has gone down in the Butler game, Smith has scored 20+ points in four of five games, including a career high 26 against UNC Greensboro.
When one star goes down, another must take his place, and Smith certainly has the capability to do that with Irving gone. Smith has never been the star of the Duke team. He has always been a big contributor, but he has never been the actual star. With Irving down, Smith could become the star guard for Duke. Look for Smith to take control of the team without Irving.
Seth Curry Will Regain His Playing Time
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Everyone knows Seth Curry's production has dropped off since coming to Duke, but look for it to come back. Curry has only played 20.3 minutes/game at Duke, opposed to 36.5 minutes/game at Liberty. With this drop off in playing time, all of his stats are dropping, but he is very similar to Irving stat-wise.
Both Curry and Irving are 6-2 180lbs, and their offensive stats are almost the same. Through the first three games of the year, they both played 23.0 minutes per game, but after that, Curry did not play as much. These first three games are the only ones that are comparable since they played the same teams for the same amount of time. During these games, Irving only scored one more point (Irving=43, Curry=42), and they shot about the same from 3 point territory (Irving=7/13, Curry=7/14). Curry and Irving also shot about the same from the free throw line (Irving=12/13, Curry=17/18). These two are about the same hen it comes to scoring, and the only differences are that Irving has more assists and more aggressive defense because he is a PG and Curry is a SG. With Irving no longer playing, look for Curry to come up big.
Andre Dawkins and Tyler Thornton Make a Good Combination
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Irving was an all-around player who could score or share the ball, and he would change his game accordingly, but he might become tired later in the game. True point guard Tyler Thornton can always share the ball, and he creates for others. Andre Dawkins, on the other hand, is a great scorer. Dawkins specializes from 3 (shooting 53.6%), but he can also drive. Both Thornton and Dawkins can play defense well, so Coach K can switch them off throughout the game to make the most of any situation. It was more effective to have one player who can be a triple threat, but Coach K has learned how to manage his players to maximize their potential. Look for Thornton and Dawkins to step up.
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Mike Krzyzewski's Team Philosophy
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Ever since he has started coaching, Coach K has stressed the team over the individual philosophy. This philosophy has worked for years, and it provides flexibility so that when a good player like Irving goes down, he can be replaced. In his three games gone, Duke has won by 35, 37 and 26. Although Bradley, Saint Louis and Elon are not exactly top 5 teams, Duke still looked good in those games.
Coach K has dealt with many injuries throughout his career, and he has dealt with them all. Irving's injury is not a devastating one because Coach K can replace him, and because this is not Coach K's first major injury to a great player. Look for Duke to keep rolling.
Weak ACC
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With the ACC conference games upon them, Duke will have to keep winning if they want to make it into the tournament, but this shouldn't be a problem.
The ACC is very weak this year. A good judgement of the conference is that they lost the ACC/Big Ten Challenge this year. The ACC won the first 10, but have lost 2 straight in the challenge in its 12 years. This year, the ACC lost 4-6, which really hurt their prestige. If you take a look at the conference, one thing stands out. First, no team except for Duke is currently in the top 25 (pitiful for one of the major conferences). This pathetic stat shows how Duke has a relatively easy road into the NCAA Tournament in March. Duke is the only team with under 2 losses, and they will easily make it into the tournament.
They Can Revert Back to Their Game Plan of Last Year
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Kyrie Irving was a dynamic point guard who changed Duke's strategy on both ends of the floor. Irving utilized his long arms and quickness on defense to create an aggressive defense in which he would try to disrupt the opposing guards. Without him, however, Duke will have to revert back to their help defense of last year. Duke must try to make opponents shoot over them with hands in their faces like they did last year since they lost Irving's quickness. The change should still be effective though, since it worked for them last season.
Irving was also a double threat on offense. Irving could score or drive and kick to a shooter for 3. Without his run and gun strategy, Duke will have to go back to the well and utilize their half court offensive set from last year. Once again the set worked for them last year, and they are still built to it with shooters like Andre Dawkins, Seth Curry and even Kyle Singler who can hit three or be a double threat. When Duke switches back to this, they will still be a force.
They Have 5 Dependable Big Men
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Without their star point guard, Duke will not be able to run and gun like they were planning to do. Now Duke will have to play a half court offense, and rely more on their big men. Duke has six forwards this year, 5 of whom can be relied on. Duke has the Plumlee brothers (Mason and Miles), Kyle Singler (who can also play guard), Josh Hairston (a big athletic freshman), and Ryan Kelly (whose game has improved a lot since he came to Duke). With these guys Duke can run a 2-3 offensive set, and wear down smaller teams inside instead of having to rely solely on shooting 3s. This balance that they bring to Duke will play a big role down the stretch.
Any Team That Can Shoot Can Win
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Last year, during Duke's title run, they shot a astounding 38.7% from three. This year, they have even furthered themselves and are shooting 44.0%. Duke relied heavily on their three point shooters last year, and when they are shooting even better this year, it would be foolish to bet against them making in deep into the NCAA Tournament.
Every year there are teams that consistently rely on their shooters to win games for them, and every year those teams can be seen in the Elite 8 or Final 4. Look for Duke to be that team, and for them to keep on winning, especially when Singler, Curry, Dawkins and Smith keep shooting like this.
Senior Leadership
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Although he is young, Irving was a leader, and Duke needs to replace that. With Irving down Duke must turn to its seniors to mentor and help the younger players. Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler are the two main seniors of this bunch, and you know that you can count on them to lead the way. Smith and Singler were two of the big three last year for Duke, and that it when they learned their leadership skills. Now that Duke is facing an injury, Smith and Singler need to show their leadership, and you can count on them to do it now. In the Butler game when Irving went down, Smith and Singler combined for 37 points. Since then, in three games they have combined for 108 points or 36 PPG. Singler and Smith are going to lead the way for Duke over the next few months, and they will be the two guys that the younger Duke players can look up to for the rest of the season.
Duke's Scoring Ability
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Many experts are projecting Duke to lose a lot on offense, but even without Kyrie Irving, Duke is a dangerous team on offense. Although they can no longer run and gun as well, they have changed strategies as though Irving has been substituted out for three and a half games.
With Irving, Duke was scoring 89.25 points per game. In the three full games without Irving, Duke has scored 83, 84, 98 and 108 points, averaging 93.25 points per game. This is not the dramatic drop that most experts were projecting, it isn't even a drop. Admittedly, with Irving, Duke played Michigan State and Kansas State who were better defensive teams than Bradley, Saint Louis and Elon, but many Duke players who were not involved last year are sill adjusting to an offensive set that they did not practice much in the preseason. Mike Krzyzewski has always coached good defense, and now that Duke is going back to their bread and butter defensively, and they are stepping up their game on offense, they are still deserving of the respect (or even fear) of all other teams.
Consistent Scoring
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If you look at the Duke team of last year, they lived and died on the three. Duke scored 100 points several times, but in the beginning of the year they would have 30 point swings from game to game depending n how they were shooting.
This year, Duke's scoring has been much more consistent. Duke has only scored under 80 points once (79 in their second game). This is a direct result from Duke having many more weapons than they did last year. Duke can still shoot the three (and they are shooting better than last year). Duke also has the inside game that they were starting to develop last year. Duke also still has their transitional game which is still decent without Irving. With multiple ways to attack opponents, the Dukies are much more dangerous this year, even without Irving.
Mike Krzyzewski's Strategy of Bringing in Players
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We can all agree that Coach K is a coaching mastermind, and that he is a recruiting genius. With his win against UNC Greensboro, Coach K passed Dean Smith for second on the NCAA all time wins list. Coach K has a secret in his winning ways. His emphasis on team before player (previously mentioned) along with his ability to bring in multiple players with the same talents are a winning formula.
Coach K likes to bring in a few big recruits so that no player has an over-inflated ego because they could lose their job. This year, Krzyzewski brought in Kyrie Irving coupled with Seth Curry. This way, when Irving went down, Curry was there to step up. Obviously Coach K doesn't want any of his players to get hurt, but unlike other teams (such as UCONN with Kemba Walker), he always has a good replacement for his players. This is why the Dukies are still currently the unanimous number one team in both polls
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