Duke Basketball: What is the Blue Devil’s identity for the 2018-19 season?

With so many new players in the Duke Basketball program for this season, where does the team’s identity stand?

Duke Basketball has been through highs and lows over the one-and-done era of college basketball. When it works, you win a championship with Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow. When it fails, you have to see your best players leave for the NBA without making a significant impact on the program.

In a system that thrives on turnover, one thing falls – a team’s identity. In college football, identities usually either stay the same or gradually change when you replace about half of your starters every year. In college basketball, it is not uncommon to lose every starter you have in most seasons.

This is the issue that Duke is facing after last year. They lost all starters, including veteran Grayson Allen and freshmen stars Wendell Carter Jr. and Marvin Bagley III. This season, there will be practically no key contributors returning. That can be tough for a team with title aspirations, but it can also give the team an opportunity to change their identity to the talent they have at hand.

When a team has as great a coach as Coach K, changing schemes is always in the cards. Great coaches don’t stick in their ways if they fail. They change with the times. Coach K did this in the first place by embracing this new era of basketball. Expect him to do the same thing this season.

If Krzyzewski decides to change Duke’s identity in terms of offense and defense this year, what would he change?