Following the Blue Devils' eight-day exam break ahead of Monday's game at Tennessee State, one question is on everybody's mind.
Will top-ranked recruit Harry Giles finally play in front of Duke fans for the first time?
Giles, who tore his right ACL in November 2015 before undergoing unrelated arthroscopic knee surgery in October—he also previously tore his left ACL earlier in his high school career—could finally see the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium when the No. 5 Blue Devils take on Tennessee State Monday at 7 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke will wrap up nonconference play against Elon at the Greensboro Coliseum Wednesday at 6 p.m.
After his team's win against then-No. 21 Florida Dec. 6, Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he hoped to bring Giles back before Christmas but was worried about rushing Giles' return. Zagsblog's Adam Zagoria reported that a source said Giles is expected to play Monday, but Duke also has its game against the Phoenix Wednesday evening in Greensboro that could serve as an alternative if the McDonald's All-American is not ready come Monday.
Krzyzewski said after his team's 94-45 rout of UNLV Dec. 10 that Giles practiced with the rest of the team the day before the game in Las Vegas. That means the Tigers—which took N.C. State to overtime Dec. 10—could be the first team to face a healthy Blue Devil team with Giles and fellow five-star freshmen Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden.
Although Tatum and Bolden missed the team's first eight games, they played full senior seasons in high school and went through full-contact practices in the preseason as Giles continued recovering.
"He’s not ready to play, but he could land, did some really good contact work in individual drills even though he didn’t go 5-on-5 contact, and he’s coming," Krzyzewski said of Giles after the UNLV game. "He’s coming, but again, he hasn’t played in 13 months, so when he does come back... he’s got to have a period of adjustment just like Jayson and Marques do too."
With Tatum back in the lineup against Florida and UNLV, Duke (10-1) played some of its best basketball of the season before its exam break. The 6-foot-8 swingman averaged 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 26.5 minutes per contest in the two games, giving the Blue Devils another potent scoring option to complement Luke Kennard, Grayson Allen and Amile Jefferson.
After battling through turf toe, Allen felt healthier before the UNLV game and erupted for a career-high 34 points—another reminder of how dangerous Duke could be moving forward with crisp ball movement and spacing.
“We’re getting closer, we’re getting better at a rapid rate I think. It’s coming from game experience with the freshmen and just playing together more," Allen said. "It’s not easy to put a lot of scorers together and have them score together, but we’re getting better at it and it’s becoming really fun to play that way."
The Blue Devils will face a disciplined Tennessee State defense that only allows 64.2 points per contest Monday before taking on an Elon team that scores almost 80 points per game but surrenders 73.8.
The Tigers (8-2) are led offensively by redshirt junior forward Wayne Martin, who averages a double-double with 12.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per contest. Tennessee State's defense frustrated N.C. State before the Wolfpack pulled away in overtime, and the Tigers also have a pair of junior guards in Darreon Reddick and Delano Spencer shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range.
Defending the 3-point line will also be key against a Phoenix team that boasts six players with at least 11 triples on the season. Elon (7-4) relies on a balanced attack with five players averaging more than 10.5 points per contest, and like Tennessee State will need to figure out how to generate open looks against Duke's tough perimeter defense.
The Blue Devils rank 21st nationally by holding opponents to 28.6 percent from long distance, and relied on ball pressure to suffocate UNLV in their most lopsided win of the season.
"We’ve been having different mixes and matches throughout practice, and it’s just reps. Everybody’s getting reps," Kennard said. "Everybody’s getting closer with each other, and we’re learning how each other play, and I think it makes a lot easier when we’re on the court and the way that we’re communicating and how connected we are—it really shows just because of practice."
Kennard and Jefferson have been Duke's most consistent players all season, but its last two games before a nine-day break and their ACC opener at Virginia Tech should give the Blue Devils more chances to see different lineups play together.
Although Bolden has only played 9.0 minutes per contest in his first three games of the season, practice time should help the 6-foot-11 big man get more comfortable as the season continues.
And if Allen continues looking like he did against the Runnin' Rebels—he threw down multiple high-flying dunks in addition to going 6-of-9 from 3-point range—Duke could extend its eight-game winning streak for quite sometime.
“He’s starting to get better. Today was the first day where he could extend, and he was making the athletic plays that he couldn’t while he was injured,” Krzyzewski said. “He was healthy and played great—not good, but great.”
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