One Door Closes, Another One Opens

Generic Script

This week was bittersweet for the No. 1 Blue Devils. By now you've heard about the unfortunate injury to Kyrie Irving, who will be sidelined indefinitely and possibly the rest of the season. This injury will definitely hurt Duke on both sides of the court, since Irving has become one of the best players in the country over a very short amount of time, highlighted by a monster performance against Michigan State. However, statistically the Blue Devils haven't slowed down despite Irving's absence.

Irving’s performance has been superb on the offensive end, showcasing his ability to make plays while facilitating the team. The most important facet of his game is passing the ball as a pure point guard, something that really cannot be replaced by any other one player on Duke’s roster; however, several players stepping in have gotten the job done for the Blue Devils thus far. In the eight games played with Irving, the team averaged 15.9 assists per game. Since he went down, Duke has averaged 20 assists per game, with Nolan Smith and Seth Curry both dishing out ten or more assists over the two game stretch (15 and 10 respectively).

The loss of the explosive Irving has forced seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith to take charge of this team not only in terms of leadership, but offensive production as well. So far, the two have proven to be up to the challenge. Singler hasn’t been the consensus All-American Duke fans wanted thus far, but he has actually improved his shot selection the past few contests. Singler has shot 52 percent from the field and 46 percent from behind the arc, an area that has plagued the star this season. Irving's aggressive moves into the paint freed up shooters behind the arc, meaning Singler spent more time in three-point range than he is accustomed to. With Irving out, Singler has taken several more shots closer to the basket, a strategy that has paid off so far both in shooting percentage and points (19 per game in comparison to 15.6 before Irving’s injury).

Several basketball experts were worried about Smith’s transition to point guard, since he was not very productive at the position earlier in his career; however, not only has he picked up the slack in the assists department (7.5 per game in Kyrie’s absence), but has started to figure out how to score as a point guard as well. Against Bradley, Smith opted to always search for the open man instead of searching for the best play. This hurt his offensive production, as well as the teams production overall, due to his lack of aggressiveness. Nolan figured out against St. Louis that sometimes the best play is one he makes, resulting in 22 points to go along with five assists on the day.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski has also been forced to use his bench more frequently. This has resulted in increased bench minutes (69 per game this week), allowing a number of players to prove themselves. The number one beneficiaries so far have been Andre Dawkins and Seth Curry. Dawkins has been moved into a starting role, while Curry has played an increased amount of minutes as well. The tandem has lit it up from behind the arc, shooting 57 percent in the two game home stand. Lucky for the Blue Devils, they have another freshman point guard with the ability to shoot in Tyler Thornton. So far, Thornton has been put on the court for one purpose: get the ball to the plethora of shooters available around him. The team can only hope the current production lasts without their playmaker, but so far the stats have spoken for themselves, and the stats don’t lie.