Duke Blue Devils: End of Season Prognosis
The Duke Blue Devils have their work cut out for them to preserve their double-bye spot in the ACC Tournament.
The Duke Blue Devils have been riding a roller coaster lately as they continue an unusual season. They had their improbable victory against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill and followed it up with a loss to Louisville. The result of both of these events was to put Duke in fourth place in the ACC standings, which would be good enough for a double bye in the ACC Tournament.
The problem with Duke’s run to fourth place is the number of teams that are right there with them. If Duke trips up again, it will need help from other ACC teams to do similar damage to Notre Dame or teams just half a game back like Clemson and Pittsburgh.
So how do Duke’s chances at a double-bye look right now in their schedule? Duke has four games remaining. Those games include the Seminoles, Pitt, Wake Forest, and North Carolina. The Tar Heels are the only ranked opponent left on the schedule. Pitt is the only team that will be in contention to grab Duke’s spot when they play. So Duke has two big tests.
Louisville really showed how to beat Duke, particularly short-handed Duke, by calling upon physical play that they brought over from their Big East days. Duke lost Luke Kennard and Grayson Allen to fouls and that was just too many men missing from the roster to make up the difference. The good news for Duke is not everybody in the conference is a Big East transplant, and they managed to beat Virginia already.
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The problem for Duke is that Florida State and Pitt have been traditionally known for physical play. The best Seminoles teams in the Leonard Hamilton era have been teams that choked you with athleticism and managed to score just enough to win. Sometimes the Seminoles have looked that way this season. Other times they have been exposed, like when Brice Johnson of the Heels had 39 points and 23 rebounds. If they have any NCAA future left, they must beat the Devils.
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Then there is Pitt. Pitt has always been a grinding and hustle team. One just has to look at their dominance of the offensive glass against North Carolina to see that. They have out battled teams like Florida State and Syracuse for victories. So they provide another stern test for a wounded Duke team.
If Duke gets the fourth place finish or better, they will have earned it through being cut to their very core and having little depth to play with. The problem will continue to be physical teams and those will only grow in number entering into tournament time in both the ACC and the NCAA.
Duke plays FSU on Thursday.