Duke Basketball: What would you do in a Blue Devil switcharoo?

Jay Bilas 1985-86 and Wendell Carter Jr.

Sorry Jay, I couldn’t find that 1986 pic that I know you wanted. Wendell is probably thinking that switch could have been alright. The Duke basketball team from 1986 was 37-3, the number one overall seed and riding a 21-game win streak before losing to Louisville and Pervis Ellison with his 25-pt, 11-reb and two block performance. Jay Bilas, a generous 6’8″ senior, was guarding him on a balky knee and played four years of ACC center against Ralph Sampson, Brad Daugherty and Horace Grant.

Ellison was only 6’9″, but shot 71% from the field, was 5-6 from the line and had five offensive rebounds. He was a handful inside and there wasn’t a player on the Duke basketball roster equipped to guard him. Enter imposing but nimble big-man Wendell Carter Jr. at 6’10” 240lbs. with his steal and over two blocks a game.

Having to contend with that every time down in the post may have put a little trepidation into Never Nervous Pervis. He also would have gotten quite the workout from Carter who was used in a lot of screening action and could step out and hit the 3-ball at 41.3% on 46 attempts. That is if there was one back then since it wasn’t introduced in college until 1986-87.

Carter’s nine rebounds per contest, including three on the offensive end, would also have helped out the first Duke basketball team to reach the final game under Mike Krzyzewski. They were out-rebounded by 15 and shot 40%, resulting in plenty of opportunities to hit the offensive glass.

Wendell may have jumped at the chance to have a Duke basketball squad with him as the sole low-post presence since Mark Alarie was more a forward. The 1986 team would have given him this, albeit at center, but he probably wouldn’t have minded since he was playing there anyway with the 2017-18 team.

In Jay Bilas, the more recent Duke basketball squad would have gotten senior leadership, a glue guy, team-first player and an intelligent organizer on the court. There was only one senior on the 2018 team and that was Grayson Allen. While we all loved the fire and passion that he played with, it often got the best of him and made it hard for him to have the complete trust of the other players.

While Bilas’ numbers wouldn’t make major contributions, his attitude and experience as a unselfish player who would guard hall of famers 6-8 inches taller than him would. He took a little step back as a senior, but this was mostly due to the knee issue and the emergence of Danny Ferry as a freshman who ate into some of Jay’s minutes. He still managed 7-pts and 5-reb in over twenty minutes a game. He also cut down on his turnovers every season and was averaging less than one per contest that final year.

Bilas played and lost a lot early in his career, but that experience made the 1986 Duke basketball team the stepping stone for all of the Blue Devils’ further success. His attitude and willingness to do whatever it took to win would have been invaluable to the 2017-18 squad and may have been the difference in a Final Four of their own.