Duke Basketball: Impact of veterans going forward for 2020-21 season
Wendell Moore and Matthew Hurt
As returning players with five-star credentials, much is to be expected of Moore and Hurt, and they delivered for the most part. Moore showed a few different things, hit a three without overshooting them, and displayed the versatility that he has in his game. Hurt looked good on offense and I was surprised he only had 12-pts in the final box score.
He pulled down seven boards, one of which resulted in a great dish to Johnson off an offensive rebound, and was generally strong with the ball with only one turnover when give-aways plagued the rest of the Duke basketball squad.
The same limitations they had last year also showed up again in the first game this season, so the results may be somewhat mixed. Moore was tasked with bringing up the ball a lot, especially early. He forced things and had three turnovers on the night while getting visibly frustrated on a few occasions and letting his defense be affected. A lot can be attributed to the high expectations of him this season and the pressure seemed to reveal itself a bit.
Although he had a good game, with an efficient 13-pts 4-reb and 2-ast, he may want to take the cue of Johnson to use his athleticism to rebound and be an initiator of the break or slash to the basket. A better option in the half-court maybe to use him as the third or fourth pass play-maker once the defense shifts or develop a post-game.
In this scenario, he could use his strength to back down smaller guards and wings with the option to kick out if a double comes or attack the rim against weaker defenders. His seminal game last season against UNC should be the blueprint where he had a double-double and got to the line 10 times by hunting for rebounds. Duke basketball has more ball-handlers this season than last and doesn’t necessarily need his when he could be better exploited in other areas.
Hurt played with more strength and confidence, and less hesitation on his shots, against the Eagles than was seen many times during his freshman campaign. His seven rebounds are a total that he equaled or eclipsed only four times his first season, and he seemed better equipped to handle the physicality down low.
That being said, Matthew Hurt will never be a plus individual defender or athlete. Other teams will look to exploit him on defense and that’s just a reality the Duke basketball world will have to live with.
Still, Hurt played almost 30 minutes against Coppin State, a team with a style that would have seen him sitting on the bench as a freshman. His understanding of Duke basketball’s team defensive strategies is only stronger, but the four fouls and having to sit because it shows there are limits to how far he will be able to come.