Duke will encounter it’s first true test of the season as the team awaits 13th ranked Michigan State coming to Durham. This game will provide an opportunity to truly tell where Duke stands early in the season. Duke will look to improve off of a subpar performance in the opener against Coppin State.
What to watch for:
Will Duke’s “bigs” get more playing time?
Coach K elected to go with small ball lineups in the season opener. Mark Williams saw just four minutes while Patrick Tape did not see any playing time. It remains to be seen how much of this lineup strategy was matchup based or if Coach K is simply more comfortable with small ball lineups with this roster. Coppin State had no players over 6’7 while Michigan State has three players 6’9 or taller. If Coach K elects to go small again, this may be an indication that small ball will be the the norm for the season.
Joey Baker Minutes
Joey Baker disappointed in the season opener. He struggled defensively and was 0/3 from beyond the arc. Coach K quickly became displeased with Baker as Baker finished the game having played just 15 minutes. Every other starter played at least 24 minutes. Will Baker match or exceed that playing time total, or will someone else get those minutes in place of Joey Baker? One name to watch is Jaemyn Brakefield. He played just 4 minutes in the last game but brought energy and looked good. He could play more in lieu of Baker in this matchup.
Can Duke clean up the mistakes?
Duke turned the ball over 21 times and shot just 4o% (4-10) from the free throw line. Most of the turnovers were unforced and these types of miscues along with the poor free throw shooting are areas that will need to be cleaned up. Duke cannot afford to beat itself with these types of errors against a team like Michigan State. Cut down the turnovers and make free throws and Duke will be in a great position against the Spartans.
Can Jalen Johnson and DJ Steward replicate their dazzling debuts?
Johnson and Steward carried much of the heavy lifting in the opener for Duke. Can the Freshmen put together back to back incredible performances? It would be ideal for Duke if others such as Wendell Moore and Matthew Hurt step up to ease some of the burden off of Johnson and Steward in this matchup. It will be interesting to see how Johnson and Steward follow up their standout performances.
Jalen Johnson vs. Joey Hauser
The two got into it a bit on Twitter back in June. Rather than further getting an argument on Twitter, Johnson elected to end it and simply tell Hauser to make sure he is guarding him when they matchup. Get your popcorn ready. All eyes will be on this matchup.
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