Duke Basketball: Vernon Carey emerges as go-to star player for Blue Devils

Carey’s status at Duke

With 9:04 remaining in the first half last night, a rather threatening tidbit popped on the screen regarding Duke: their 12-22 deficit against Georgetown was their largest on the year (only to be broken by an 18-29 deficit at the 6:11 mark).

From that 9:04 mark, Carey went on to score 10 points to close out the first half, of which Duke left with a tied score). The Blue Devils ran away with it fairly steadily in the second half, but it was Carey’s dominant post play to finish the first half that let them get to the point to do so.

Last night’s win was a grindstone victory, but that has been the story of the season thus far for Duke Basketball. Which is why Carey is perfect for this team. If a team is going to run with a messier style of play, they need a guy who can clean up down low to keep control of the game; Carey is exactly that for Duke this season.

He’s that guy who you can dish it to down low at the end of the shot clock and fairly expect him to find a comfortable look. Because at his size and power, getting a comfortable look comes as easy as it does for anyone. Whether if he’s simply backing down his defender or skipping around them with his forceful hop-step (a move he definitely should be utilizing more), he’s flat-out dominant.

So dominant that the Blue Devils could theoretically feed his skillset even more, especially when considering all of the layers to his game that they have yet to fully explore. For instance, Carey has a surprisingly competent game from the top of the key, but instead, he solely focuses his act on his role as pick-man and inside scorer.

Currently, Duke Basketball is sort of using him in a way that is almost reminiscent of the great Shaquille O’Neal (not an attempt to draw any skill comparisons; not at all). Just with how easy it is to get the ball to him off cuts or post-entry passes, and how easy he can make smaller college defenders around him pay with his strength; it certainly is similar to the way Shaq was used.

And while it’s been extremely effective, why not try and modernize that similarity? Carey showed on multiple occasions last night that he can beat defenders off the bounce from the top of the key, and he currently has yet to miss a three this season (although he has only taken three on the year, why not shoot more when the potential is there?).

Either way though, whether or not Duke wants to expand his game or not, Carey should find a way to make an impact. His game is so much more diverse than many ever thought; he can impact the game in more ways than one. That statement alone is also why it is time to start taking the big man seriously as a draft prospect.