Duke Blue Devils: No Need to Panic
The Duke Blue Devils may be having some reverses right now, but the long game is still in their favor.
The Duke Blue Devils lost to the Syracuse Orange last night. It was their third loss in a row. It was their third conference loss in a row. It was their third loss to an unranked team in a row. The question is should Duke fans be worried about this? I really don’t think that they should. Here are some reasons.
1. The ACC ain’t easy
Though some Duke teams have made the conference look inconsequential in the past, this year has a pretty good parity for its teams. Duke is an example of this, being a team that had to reload the depth from a championship roster. Taking a small step back while other teams took steps up puts Duke where they are.
No other power is living it up in the conference either outside of Chapel Hill. Preseason top 5 team Virginia is already the victim of some losses itself. It is sitting no prettier than Duke is, and it has a roster with comparatively little turnover from the previous season.
Duke has even beaten Virginia Tech, which is sitting with only that one conference loss right now.
Looking at the losses you see three teams: Clemson, Notre Dame, Syracuse. Clemson might be the hottest team in the conference. Notre Dame coach Mike Brey is a former Krzyzewski assistant and understands what Duke likes to do with the basketball. Syracuse plays that zone defense that would have been especially frustrating for Duke’s young players.
None of those games were lost by big margins. Clemson won by five. Notre Dame won by four. Syracuse won by two. The latter two games may have turned on officiating. That does not sound like cause for alarm.
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2. The team is young
This Duke team still needs more time to play together. There is lots of talent but it needs a little more seasoning. Last time I checked, the NCAA Tournament is not played next week, but in March. There are two games with the Heels that have not been played yet.
More than any previous Duke team, this feels like a Kentucky team going through the annual facelift. Before the undefeated Kentucky team of last year (that fell in the Final Four) there was the head scratching Kentucky team of 2014.
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That Kentucky team had ten losses from a talent base that was supposed to light the SEC on fire. They came on in March, getting to the SEC Championship final. Then they took their ten losses to the National Title Game, losing to UConn. But their young talent had finally meshed despite the early signs of difficulty. There is no reason to assume Duke cannot do the same thing.
3. It is too early
Other teams have endured losing early conference games and been just fine in the end. It was starting to become a tradition for the Heels to drop their first couple of conference matchups over the last couple years. As long as Duke makes the tournament, their talent base has the ability to turn everything around and make it right.
Duke gets the limping NC State Wolfpack in their next game.