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Are The Duke Blue Devils Back To An Elite Level?

By Jacob Rude

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Even considering to the Duke Blue Devils’ close call on the road against Florida State on Monday night, the Duke appear to have finally figured out their early conference-season struggles, but have they improved enough to be considered elite once more?

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It’s cliche, if not sometimes easy, to hate Duke. You hate them because you think they flop, you think they’re rich kids, and you think that the Cameron Crazies are pretentious.

But most importantly, you hate them because they’re good.

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The Blue Devils gave those that detest them fuel earlier this season when, at the start of ACC conference play, they dropped two of their first four games, back-to-back, with the latter of the two coming at home. It was, simply put, an embarrassing performance by the Blue Devils, especially on the defensive side of the ball. NC State and Miami, the two schools to deliver the losses, shot 55% and 52% from the field, respectively.

All signs pointed to the Blue Devils being in a world of hurt. Fresh off the two-game skid, the Blue Devils were starting at a five-game stretch that would require them to travel to Louisville, host Pittsburgh, face St. Johns in Madison Square Garden, travel to South Bend, and cap it off with a road game against the Cavaliers of Virginia. Given their then-current run of form, it wasn’t inconceivable to see the Blue Devils battling to stay at .500 in that stretch.

On the heels of Mike Krzyzewski’s gutsy shift to a zone defense, a strategy that flabbergasted the Cardinals and allowed Duke to revitalize their season. Instead of battling to stay relevant in the conference title picture, the Blue Devils finished that five-game stretch at 4-1, defeated only by the hands of Jerian Grant‘s superhero antics in South Bend to take the Notre Dame Fighting Irish over the Blue Devils.

The Blue Devils put a large, loud, and boisterous exclamation point on their return to the elites this past weekend with a thorough dismantling of Notre Dame in Cameron Indoor Stadium. After falling behind 6-0 early, the Blue Devils, over a 15:06 stretch, reeled off a 43-7 run. Forty-three to seven. The stats are phenomenal and have been stated over and over.

The fact is, the Blue Devils are back. There may not be a more talented starting five in the country, and few, if any, as tight-knit. Led by their fantastic back court of Tyus Jones and Quinn Cook, who have had more than their share of big plays this season, highlighted by Jones’ HUGE shot to finish off the Cavaliers.

As it stands, the Blue Devils are 21-3. Kenpom ranks them as just the 8th best team in the country, but they sport the 13th toughest schedule. While they do have both contests against North Carolina remaining, they should be able to coast into the ACC tournament. They’ve survived the three-week gauntlet in their schedule that saw them play four ranked teams in seven games, plus a previously-ranked St. John’s team.

The Blue Devil’s have figured out their defensive issues, have relished without Rasheed Sulaimon, and appear to be back in the ranks of the elite teams this year.

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