Despite all the preseason hype, everyone knew this Duke team wasn’t going to be perfect. It was bound to have an Achilles’ heel.
Well, make that toe.
After a month of cautious optimism following Kyrie Irving’s now infamous injury to his right big toe, the loss of the Blue Devils’ dynamic point guard finally caught up to Duke in its first loss of the season against Florida State last night.
Against the Seminoles, the impact of Irving’s absence finally became apparent after a month of subpar competition and favorable crowds masked his loss. Without its freshman playmaker, Duke’s offense stagnated.
Throughout the game, the ball stayed in Nolan Smith’s hands too long, and many possessions simply devolved into a game of one-on-five between him and a stellar Seminole defense. Without a true point guard on the floor, Duke’s forwards were nearly invisible, and a team that was once ridiculed for reliance on 3-point baskets regressed into a similar system.
The loss finally justified the shadow that Irving’s injury has cast over the No. 1 team in the country. Before the Blue Devils’ first loss, fans complaining about Irving’s absence sounded like spoiled teenagers who got a Mercedes instead of a Ferrari for their sixteenth birthday.
Now, though, Duke has lost more than just its most exciting player—the Blue Devils might have lost their aura.
With Irving, Duke had what looked to be the early front-runner for national player of the year and possibly the best point guard Durham has seen since Jason Williams. In fact, Irving was on pace to be even better than Williams. Through his first eight games, Irving averaged 17.4 points and 5.1 assists, and the Blue Devils were 8-0. Williams, despite his dazzling career, only averaged 14.6 and 4.9 assists in his first eight games, two of which were Duke losses.
So while the Blue Devils will still be a very good team this season, it’s fair for fans to be depressed after losing arguably the best player in the country, and, if the stats show anything, possibly the best point guard to ever play in Durham. It’s fair for fans to be disappointed that they might not see Irving’s ball-on-a-string ball-handling skills again this year, or ever. It’s fair for fans to mourn the loss of what could have been one of the most dominant teams in college basketball history, even though that loss doesn’t cripple the team’s national title hopes.
But despite the defeat in Tallahassee, it isn’t fair for fans mourning the loss of Irving to ignore the current Blue Devils on the court. This Duke team still has something incredibly rare in the modern college basketball landscape—a pair of seniors as talented and poised as Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith. It is still on track for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It still has two months to adjust to Irving’s absence against ACC competition.
So while no one knows how long Irving will actually be out, it’s time for fans to accept that without Irving, this Duke team is different, not dead. It will continue to be a national title contender, just in a less dominant and flashy way. Smith and Singler will share the spotlight; it won’t be dominated by Irving.
And as sad as Irving’s injury is, that’s OK. I’m betting as long as this team makes a deep run in March, fans will be satisfied—whether it’s with Irving running the point or not.
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