Duke Basketball: 3 takeaways for Blue Devils home victory over NC State

MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 04: Tre Jones #3, Cassius Stanley #2, Vernon Carey Jr. #1, Wendell Moore Jr. #0 and Javin DeLaurier #12 of the Duke Blue Devils react after a basket against the Miami Hurricanes during the second half at the Watsco Center on January 04, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 05: Cassius Stanley #2 of the Duke Blue Devils (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Too dependant on Vernon Carey Jr. and Tre Jones

Instead of taking the negative route and stating that opponents can limit the effectiveness of the Blue Devil’s offense if they focus on Vernon Carey Jr and Tre Jones. The narrative will be that if Cassius Stanley can become a consistent scorer, Duke becomes exponentially more difficult to stop on the offensive end.

Stanley is averaging 12.5 points per game in conference play this season but has scored over 20 in five times including non-conference games. He led all scorers against NC State with 18 points on 7/18 shooting. While Vernon Jr. (17) and Jones (15) did not struggle, if Stanley is able to emerge as a scorer it will continue to make their offense more dynamic. If all three players are playing well, Duke is almost impossible to beat, if Carey Jr. or Jones are off, Stanley needs to step up to fill the void.

At No.2 and No.5 in the ACC in points produced, at times the other three Blue Devils on the court simply deferred to Carey Jr. and Jones. At those given times the offense became much more static as isolation and threes were the results.

Going forward it is essential for the top two options to play off their teammates. The more success everybody else has, the less attention on Carey Jr and Jones. And if Monday’s game is any indication, those opportunities will be in abundance.

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