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Duke Basketball: 3 keys to beat Kansas in 2019 Champions Classic

By Matthew Travis

OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: The Kansas Jayhawks and Duke Blue Devils huddle during the first half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: The Kansas Jayhawks and Duke Blue Devils huddle during the first half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – JANUARY 22: Jordan Goldwire #14 of the Duke Blue Devils brings the ball up court against Jared Wilson-Frame #4 of the Pittsburgh Panthers at Petersen Events Center on January 22, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JANUARY 22: Jordan Goldwire #14 of the Duke Blue Devils brings the ball up court against Jared Wilson-Frame #4 of the Pittsburgh Panthers at Petersen Events Center on January 22, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

2. Don’t continuously shoot three-pointers

Last season Duke’s biggest weakness was their inability to shoot threes and in their two exhibition games this year, Duke shot a combined 15-44. It’s for this reason that Duke beat their first opponent; Northwest Missouri State, by only six points, they shot 2-16 from three…

If Duke continues to shoot threes and not make them then they’re going to find themselves in trouble continuously throughout the season. If they do this against Kansas on Tuesday then they’ll get blown out.

This Duke team is one that is very unusual, it’s a team made up of big men rather than guards. If your team is made up of big guys like Wendell Moore, Matthew Hurt and Vernon Carey jr., then why do you keep shooting threes if you’ve made only two of them?

The Blue Devils were much better in their second exhibition game against Fort Valley State shooting 13-28 from deep, but in my opinion, shooting the three ball is simply too risky especially if you’re playing the third ranked team in the nation.

If Duke shoots the three like they did against Northwest Missouri State then they’ll get beat by 40, so if you’re too inconsistent from deep, don’t shoot from deep. Vernon Carey is a guy who will be able to take a double team and that is something he’s going to have to deal with throughout the season.

Because of this, the three will be open but that also means someone will be open to drive the ball and take it to the rim. So if that lane is open and you can potentially get the foul, why risk a three?

Last season Duke was horrible from deep and if you look at their six total losses last season they shot a combined 44-169 from three… that’s 26%. It is because of this that you can pin many of the Blue Devils losses on their inability to shoot the three.

Unfortunately, through two exhibition games, it looks as if it’s going to be another season of inconsistency from beyond the three-point line in Durham. So if you know this going into the season in one of your biggest games of the season, why would you shoot it time and time again?

If Duke wants to beat Kansas they’re going to need to hold themselves back from shooting the three.

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