Duke Basketball: Biggest keys for Blue Devils in final month of 2019-20

Player Breakdowns:  Vernon Carey

Since Tre Jones has already been covered, it’s on to Duke’s other indispensable player, Vernon Carey. He sets the tone inside and is the main cog in an efficient half-court offense for the Devils. He is in the top five in the ACC in: points, rebounds and field goal percentage, the only player to do so. There are only two other players in the ACC in the top ten in these categories.

He is on multiple Player of the Year watch lists and can take over games while putting opposing big men in serious foul trouble. He gets to the line more than any other player in the conference by far and has raised his FT% by four points during Duke’s win streak. He really is just a beast.

This can be good and bad, overwhelmingly good, but even he has room for improvement. He sees so many doubles and even triple teams, but only averages 1.1 assists. His season-high was in the Pitt game, where he had four, but this was also the game after the bye week and something that may have been worked on.

Freshman tendencies, beast or not, would see that outburst of dimes slowly revert back to normal and that is what has happened.  The positive is that Carey is usually fouled while bulling through the doubles, aaahh to be 6’10” and 270lbs, and has the chance to convert a few old-fashioned three-pointers per game while consistently hitting his foul shots.

Still, it could be really helpful for Duke’s best shooters:  Matthew Hurt, Joey Baker and Alex O’Connell, to get open looks from passes out of the double.  All three have nice shot fakes with the ability to sidestep or put it on the floor for a drive or mid-range shot, but open looks are open looks and always preferable to contested ones.

It is also imperative that Carey remains out of foul trouble.  Three of Carey’s last four games, again pre ND, have seen him earn at least four fouls while his now almost infamous disqualification against the Tar Heels may have created a real and unexpected catalyst for the Devils.

While Goldwire and Moore can handle point duties in Jones’ absence, Duke has no backup plan for Vernon.  He only averages 2.7 personal fouls on the year and he needs to get back to that average from his recent uptick in the last few games.

While the press seems to be favored strategy for disrupting the opposing offenses, Duke’s recent success with a zone would be a good option if Carey finds himself in foul trouble.  Even if he just needs to rest on the floor while utilizing him on the offensive end, a Duke zone would serve both of these scenarios.