Duke Blue Devils: 3 Reactions to Jahlil Okafor’s Career Night

MVP: Jahlil Okafor. Building on his already big reputation with a career-high scoring performance. His 24 points on 12 of 14 shooting came in his typical array of post moves and easy buckets set up by his teammates, but his smoothness on the court is as evident as ever. He seems to be getting better, which is a terrifying thought.

LVP: This Furman player for the gaffe of the game.

Stat of the Night: 24. As in the number of assists Duke had on 38 made field goals, or 63% of their baskets. At times, Furman tried a 2-3 zone defense that the Blue Devils picked apart. Amile Jefferson planted in the high post and found Okafor on a handful of passes, quickly ending that experiment. That just lends the question, how do you stop the Blue Devils?

1. This may be one of the best Duke Blue Devils defenses in Coach K’s tenure

Seriously, the defense is absolutely stifling and suffocating. They swarm you and ball-hunt, forcing you into turnovers. When is the last time you could say that about a Mike Krzyzewski-coached team? Too often, his teams relied three-point shooting or one player to create for the offense and was simply average on defense.

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This year, with Okafor protecting the rim, he can afford to take risks on the perimeter and boy has it worked. They rank in the top 20 in the nation in turnover margin and creating havoc on that end of the floor. When they aren’t turning teams over, theyre rushing them into their offense, getting them out of rhythm.

Come tournament time, the Blue Devils will no longer need to rely on offense or one player to create buckets in close games. Their defense can do that for them and that should be a big difference maker for Coach K this March.

2. Duke could hang with Kentucky, and they may be the only team

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So far, the juggernaut that is the the Kentucky Wildcats have hardly been slowed down en route to their undefeated record. Realistically, there aren’t many NCAA teams that can compete with them, even top ten teams. We saw what happened when Kansas took them on, and that was really ugly.

Duke, however, can come close to matching their talent level and are a more well-rounded team than UK. Certainly, the platoon system would do their damage, but Duke has proven that they are a deep team themselves who are more traditional in their rotations.

Unfortunately, the only chance we’ll get to see this is likely the Final Four or National title game. Early on, though, this seems like the two likely favorites.

3. Amile Jefferson looks like Duke’s X-factor

So far this year, we’ve heard a lot about Quinn Cook, Okafor, and Justise Winslow. We haven’t heard nearly as much from Jefferson, who has taken a backseat in the starting line-up. During the broadcast, the announcers compared him to Dennis Rodman, which is an apt comparison.

Tonight, he had 16 points and 12 rebounds on 8 of 9 shooting. With teams keying on nearly every other starter, Jefferson will have his looks. If he can convert them, then this Blue Devil starting unit will be nearly unguardable with how balanced they’ve been this year so far.