Duke Basketball: 2019-20 takeaways from win at Michigan State

Duke Basketball: 2019-20 takeaways from Blue Devils win at Michigan State

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 21: Javin DeLaurier #12 and Wendell Moore Jr. #0 celebrate with Alex O'Connell #15 of the Duke Blue Devils after his dunk in the second half of their game against the California Golden Bears at Madison Square Garden on November 21, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

2 of 4

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 15: Joey Baker #13 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after a play during the second half during their game against the Georgia State Panthers at Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 15, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /

1. Joey Baker Deserves to Start

This is something I have been saying for weeks, but after his second consecutive game with at least 10 points, it is more than fair to say Joey Baker deserves to start.

Baker was incredible on Tuesday night as he started off 5-5 from the field and finished with 11 points to go with an assist and a rebound as well. After Friday’s game against Winthrop when he went for 16 points, a rebound, an assist and a steal.

So in two games, Baker has combined for 27 points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal on 11-13 shooting. Only two missed shots out of 13 attempts in two games and he still has yet to get an opportunity to start.

To me at least that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Baker was a top-20 recruit in the Class of 2019 before he decided to reclassify and join the 2018 class where he would be ranked 41st.

This just goes to show you how talented Baker is, so once again I will ask, why hasn’t he gotten the chance to start?

Baker was playing well on both ends of the ball and showed that MAYBE Coach K made a mistake last season by playing him only 18 total minutes last season.

Nonetheless, this is likely something we will see potentially on Friday when Duke takes on Virginia Tech in their first conference game of the season. Without Cassius Stanley Coach K will be using different combinations and I believe one of those combos will include Baker in the starting five.

On Tuesday night Duke used their fifth different starting lineup in nine games, this time with Tre Jones, Jack White, Wendell Moore, Matthew Hurt and Vernon Carey jr.

Three of these five would finish with double digits in points including double-doubles out of both Jones and Carey with Hurt also finishing with 10 points while White would finish with seven and Moore with zero.

Moore hardly saw the court on Tuesday after getting three early fouls and because of this, he wouldn’t put the ball in the basket a single time.

However, I don’t think Moore should be the one getting moved to the bench, I think it should be Jack White. He was great on Tuesday night don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think he is worthy of a starting spot going forward and I think Duke needs to at least give Baker the chance at starting.

Home/Duke Blue Devils