Season Opener Exhibits Up-Tempo Offense

Duke started its quest for its fifth national championship with a bang against Princeton Sunday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils defeated the Tigers 97-60 and showed that this year’s group may be more dynamic than the reigning national championship team.

That was evident in Duke’s new style of play. Thanks to their plethora of athletic shooters, this team will try to play up-tempo, much like the Phoenix Suns from 2007. Princeton plays a much slower game, generally forcing teams to wait until much of the shot clock has ticked away for an uncomfortable shot at the basket. With the two contrasting styles, something had to give, and the Blue Devils most certainly had the upper hand.

Duke shot only twice with 10 seconds or fewer left on the shot clock, one of which came when the team was running the clock out at the end of the first half. Their pace also frustrated the Tigers, who coughed up 17 turnovers in the first half alone, resulting in 36 points for the Blue Devils.

But despite this new tempo, Duke still plans to rely on the three-point shot, much like last year’s team. 26 of the 65 total shots taken were from beyond the arc, although the accuracy varied between halves. The Blue Devils made only 6-of-15 threes in the first half, but made an incredible 8-of-11 opportunities in the second half, slamming the door shut on any kind of Princeton rally.

Last season’s team shot about 38% from three-point land, while Duke shot around 54% in their first contest of the season. Last year’s Blue Devils also averaged about eight threes made a game, six less than the total scored by six different players against the Tigers.

The ball movement for Duke led to several scoring opportunities. The Blue Devils had 26 assists as a team, led by freshman point guard Kyrie Irving, who had 9 assists on the night. Last year’s team averaged about 14 assists a game, a statistic that the Blue Devils topped in their opener. The personnel on this team may directly affect this, as Irving is more of a pure point guard then Jon Scheyer was.

Duke’s improved depth also paid dividends Sunday night. The Blue Devils scored 35 points off the bench, and all indications are that head coach Mike Krzyzewski will implement a nine-man rotation this season. The impact of the bench was not seen until the second half, when the Tigers started showing signs of fatigue that Duke capitalized on. Five players, two of which started on the bench, scored in double figures for the Blue Devils. Nine players were in the game for double-digit minutes for Duke, in contrast to the six players from Princeton.