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Jeremy Roach Looks Primed to Become Engine of Duke’s Offense

The departure of the always reliable Tre Jones left a massive void in Duke’s offense. Without Jones, Duke was left needing to find a new “quarterback” of the offense. Five games into the season, Roach may be emerging as the new engine of the offense.

Roach started the season a bit slow. The first three games were underwhelming overall. He showed flashes of what he can become, but left much to be desired. It may be that Roach was simply adjusting to the speed of the college game. This is very common for Freshmen point guards, regardless of how highly ranked. Whatever the case may be, Roach seems to have found his groove at the college level.

He has flipped a switch over the last two games and is showing why he was the 4th highest ranked point guard in the 2020 class. After appearing a bit hesitant in his decision making, Roach has proven to be far more decisive over the last two games. He’s making quick and smart decisions when he has the ball in his hands.

Roach was not a legitimate scoring threat throughout the first three games of the season. This changed against Illinois. He looked very comfortable at the college level for the first time.

He followed that up with another very strong performance against Notre Dame. He displayed an impressive level of patience in this game and drove with a purpose. On his three point attempts, there was zero hesitation. Both attempts were catch and shoot situations where he let the ball fly with confidence.

He has been extremely impressive as a playmaker in each of the last two games as well. He was a maestro with ball in his hands against Illinois. The seven assist, zero turnover performance he turned in was magnificent. To have seven assists and not turn the ball over once speaks to how excellent his decision making was. This type of assist-turnover ratio is extremely rarer from any player, let alone a Freshman in his fourth career college game.

The stat sheet does not show it, but he was just as sound in his decision making against Notre Dame. He was making the correct reads all game long. His passes did not result in any assists, but he was clearly in control and could have easily had a few assists. His feel for the game was evident in this game and he excelled yet again in directing traffic.

In the last two games, Jeremy Roach has achieved back to back career highs in scoring, pouring in 13 against Illinois and 14 against Notre Dame. He also set a season high in assists against Illinois with 7.

Roach is showing that he may have what it takes to be the engine of the offense. He’s proving that he can be a reliable scoring threat and has a knack for creating for others as well. He is turning into the floor general this Duke team needs. He will only improve as the season moves along and this type of play from Roach elevates the ceiling of the team tremendously.