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LAHAINA, Hawaii – It's not crazy that Duke is good, since the Blue Devils have three top-five picks, a possible first-round pick and the biggest university coach in history.
Duke was always going to be great.
But this awesome?
This early?
More
This is the remarkable thing about the Blue Devils through four games – be they this awesome this early. Because teams that rely heavily on freshmen – the Blue Devils start four recruits – usually need time to understand. But Duke did not have such problems. The Blue Devils opened with a 118 A Kentucky team ranked in the top 10. Then they beat the 94-72 army. Then they beat East Michigan 84-46. And then, on Monday, they absolutely dismantled a very good San Diego State team, 90-64, in their first Maui Invitational game here inside the Lahaina Civic Center.
"We played well," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, and I think he used a version of this phrase at almost every post-press conference. match so far this season because Duke has always played well despite his youth and the fact that he know, not even Thanksgiving.
So I asked Krzyzewski why.
Why does he think things are going so well so early that they often do not do it for teams built this way?
"These guys are really good basketball players because they are not positional," said Krzyzewski. "If you are in position, you are generally anxious to touch the ball to score because you do not know how many times you will touch it, but when there is no position, you touch the ball and you & # 39; re [just] play basketball – and that's our team this year. So, the ball finds the best shot. And they like that. Because they are basketball players. And their future will be good, whether they are on average 18 or 14 years old. That helps us, and the fact that we have four guys who can bring the ball back to the field with a defensive rebound or a robbery. "
I've been to two of Duke's four games so far this season, and this last point is an argument I've already heard twice from Krzyzewski. This is, in his opinion, what sometimes makes his team completely overwhelming – no matter whether Tre Jones, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish or Zion Williamson get a defensive rebound or fly because they are all. clever enough to just grab it and go and eventually make a game.
"We have an explosive ability," Krzyzewski admitted. "If we can get a flight or a defensive rebound, with our ball inspectors, they are very good in transition, they are almost always good game and I'm not sure how many teams have so many "handball" [on the court at the same time]. … I hope we can [transition opportunities] every match – because then it's over. It's over, you know? Our team, if it does, has the ability to put a team to the table. "
And then there is that …
"They are on their own," Krzyzewski said of his four freshmen. "They are very safe, they have been well-parented, they have been well trained, so they understand [how to be a] is part of something bigger than themselves – [all while] always be very good [individually]. … They are really a pleasure to coach. "
But a pain to play against.
Auburn will be next to find out.
That's what the first-ranked Blue Devils will play in Tuesday's first semifinal, which should switch at 8 pm ET – and, to be clear, Auburn should not go quietly since the Tigers are ranked eighth. in the AP poll and led by six of the top eight scorers who were part of last season's team who won a SEC regular season title. The Bruce Pearl team is good.
But Coach K's team is special – and this was reminded us this Monday.
Barrett, Williamson, Reddish and Jones combined 63 points while the entire San Diego State team scored only 64. The Blue Devils led by 35 before Krzyzewski emptied the bench, as Nick usually does. Saban in Alabama. And at this point, it's fair to wonder if this will happen more often in Duke's games this season.
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