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Duke Basketball: 3 reasons why Blue Devils will miss 2021 NCAA Tournament

By Tristan Freeman

MIAMI, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 01: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils coaches his team during the second half against the Miami Hurricanes at Watsco Center on February 01, 2021 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 01: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils coaches his team during the second half against the Miami Hurricanes at Watsco Center on February 01, 2021 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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Wendell Moore Jr. Duke Basketball (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
Wendell Moore Jr. Duke Basketball (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /

2. Duke can’t seem to get everyone to play well at the same time

This season’s roster for the Blue Devils isn’t very deep overall. When fully healthy, they play eight players, although it’s been seven for key games. Backups Joey Baker and Jaemyn Brakefield provide a combined six points a night and aren’t consistent producers.

It effectively leaves five players to be relied upon for the offensive production. That excludes starting point guard Jordan Goldwire, who only averages 6.5 ppg on the season. But he’s always been known as a great individual defender instead of an offensive threat, so it would be unfair to cast blame on him. Same as Hurt, who has been a consistent source of offense, averaging just under 18 ppg and has been in double figures in all but one game this season.

Freshman guard Jeremy Roach had a strong stretch in the middle of the season, with six straight games in double figures. However, he’s struggled mightily in the past few weeks, including back-to-back games of 0 points and two against Miami. Fellow guard DJ Steward has been the closest thing to a second option, putting up 13.0 ppg and being the only other legit three-point shooter besides Hurt.

The two main issues have been Wendell Moore and Jalen Johnson. Moore started out the season as badly as possible and was relegated to the bench after several poor shooting games. To the sophomore’s credit, Moore has come on as of late with four straight games in double figures. Johnson has had an opposite stretch, starting out strong in the season-opener before suffering a month-long foot injury.

When the freshman forward came back, he posted a 24-point and 16-rebound performance against Pittsburgh. Since then, he’s been up and down offensively but more importantly, has been below average in terms of defensive and effort overall. Johnson came off the bench against Notre Dame and played just 15 minutes.

Duke has had various lineups throughout the season, with little success overall. Assuming Hurt puts up 15-20 points, they need both freshmen guards (Roach and Steward), along with both Moore and Johnson to be consistent on offense. And that doesn’t even include what they need to do on the defensive effort to not allow teams in the bottom half of the ACC to go off for 80+ points. The Blue Devils lack the star power at the top and the overall depth right now and that puts them in a position to lose a lot more games than they usually would.

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