Duke Basketball: Takeaways from tough home loss to upstart Clemson Tigers

2. It might be time to re-insert Jack White into the starting lineup

Jack White obviously isn’t some savior for what’s ailing Duke basketball but at the same time, his experience would obviously help. The 6-foot-7 Australian has played in some big games throughout his almost four full seasons at Duke and has picked up his play over the last several games in the 2019-20 season.

White is playing just under 20 minutes per game and has already made a career-high five starts on the season. He is scoring 4.4 points and grabbing 3.9 rebounds per game. White is a physical player and is a big part of Duke being an accurate 3-point shooting team (36.7% from 3 as a unit) this season.

Coach K went to White (28 minutes) against Clemson much more than Hurt in a game that called for attention to detail. White finished with nine points, five rebounds, and two steals. Over his last five games—four of them being Duke wins—White is shooting 63.6% from the 3-point line. That kind of elite shooting provides a nice outlet for Carey and Co. when double teams come. On top of that, White’s steadying presence on the floor is needed for Duke to truly bounce back.

Without Moore and Baker, Coach K is limited as to what he can do with his bench unit. Inserting White into the starting unit again would push top-12 recruit Hurt to the bench, providing Duke basketball bench unit with a nice dose of scoring punch. Even if Coach K doesn’t change up the starting lineup vs. Louisville, look for White to get decent minutes off the bench after his solid performance.