Duke Basketball: Matthew Hurt is key to unlocking Blue Devils offensive ceiling

Duke Basketball doesn’t have a generational talent but plenty of quality players. Could Matthew Hurt be the most important piece?

Last season, Duke Basketball shot 30.8% from the 3-point line, good (or should I say bad) for 329th (out of 353 programs) and despite this, they finished in the top-20 in the nation in offensive efficiency. That type of offensive dominance is possible in spite of the terrible outside shooting when you have generational talents like Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett.

This season the Blue Devils are again loaded but nothing quite like last year’s team. The 2019-20 version of Duke will need to take a score-by-committee approach on offense, using their bevy of options to keep the opponents guessing and that is precisely where do-it-all freshman Matthew Hurt comes into the picture.

Matthew Hurt stands 6-foot-9 and has a lanky frame at 214 lbs. Hurt is your prototypical stretch-four and that is where we have to start when discussing how vital he is to Coach K and the Duke offense this season.

Through four games Hurt has shot 7-for-17 (41.2%) from 3-point range, easily making him Duke’s best perimeter shooter through the early going. He is taking 9.8 3-pointers per 100 possessions, a mark that trails only Alex O’Connell (13.0) and Joey Baker (10.3).

The aggressiveness that Hurt shows from deep with his quick and hard to disrupt release adds an easy relief valve for any of Duke’s drive-and-kick creators. Finding Hurt open for a shot is an easier task given that the freshman forward is rarely standing still, constantly looking for opportunities to set backpicks or relocate to the corners.

Hurt’s touch is obvious on runners/floaters and he figures to be an extremely efficient, albeit low volume, free throw shooter, going 2-fo-2 so far on the season. I expect Hurt to stay in high 30s-to-low 40s for his 3-point percentage on the season

But earlier, I referred to Matthew Hurt as a “do-it-all” player for a reason.

In Duke’s win over Central Arkansas, Hurt showcased his entire arsenal. He would go on to score once more after the above graphic was tweeted out, finishing with 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Hurt went a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range, 2-for-2 from the free throw line and though he only had three assists, Hurt made numerous passes that started the process of Duke working the ball around for a good shot. His decision making, in general, was great.

The ability to have a serious impact on a game when your shot is not falling is the mark of a great player and Hurt has flashed the ability to do that is in his brief time in Durham so far.

Matthew Hurt followed up his 19-point breakout against Central Arkansas with an ice-cold shooting performance against Georgia State in which he missed all three of his attempts from 3-point range and shot a woeful 28.6% from the field overall.

But alas there was Hurt, netting a steal and a tip-in to give Duke the lead going into the half. grabbing 6 offensive rebounds to help Duke finish with a devastating 58-32 advantage on the boards. He didn’t fill up the stat sheet, but his tenacity on the glass and willingness to give up the rock helped steady the Blue Devils against a surprisingly tough Georgia State squad.

With Hurt already playing so well, is it really possible that there are opportunities left on the table? The answer is a resounding yes.

Hurt’s usage percentage—whether by design or his unselfish nature—is sixth on the team and a player with such a robust skill set and obvious offensive value (120.3 offensive rating through four games) should eat up a few more possessions per game.

Out of the four players on Duke currently averaging double figures in scoring, Hurt is the only player who defenses absolutely dread leaving open from 3-point range.

He can leverage that fact to attack closeouts, something he should do more to improve his solid but not spectacular 58.3% shooting at the rim. That being, Hurt is taking the least amount of assisted shots at the rim on the team sans wing Wendell Moore.

Everyone has their role on this year’s team: Vernon Carey Jr., the dominating inside presence; Tre Jones, the fearless floor general; Cassius Winston and Wendell Moore serve as your athletic slasher/defender types; but Hurt s the only player who can fill in as needed, with the ability to block shots, hit 3-pointers, crash the boards, finish inside, and put the ball on the floor a bit to create.

Heading into Thursday’s matchup with the California Golden Bears in New York in the 2K Empire Classic semifinals, Hurt is in the top-5 on Duke in offensive rebounding percentage, 3-pointers attempted and made, PER, and true shooting percentage and rarely turns the ball over.

As Coach K starts to encourage Hurt to show more aggression attacking from the low/high post and the elbows in his motion offense, we will see him slowly morph into X-factor that could push the 2019-20 Duke Blue Devils over the top.