The bell of the Blue Zone stock exchange has just rung again, meaning it's time for another taking a look at who is rising and falling with their performances for Blue Devil sports teams. Each week The Blue Zone will look at whose stock is on the rise and whose stock has taken a hit from the week in the world of Duke athletics.
Bull Market—Trending Up
Trick plays for Duke football in bowl games: Once again, the Blue Devils were just minutes away from capturing their first bowl win since the 1960 season before falling 36-31 to No. 15 Arizona State thanks to more ingenuity from head coach David Cutcliffe and his staff. After falling behind 20-3, Duke took its first and only lead of the game with 5:03 remaining thanks to a 30-yard fake-punt pass by punter Will Monday and a 12-yard jet-sweep pass by senior wideout Jamison Crowder to high school teammate Issac Blakeney.
Although the Blue Devils fell, they showed they could go toe to toe with a top-15 squad thanks to their creativity in every phase of the game Saturday in El Paso, Texas, one of the many reason Duke's program should only continue to rise with its talent level.
Mason Plumlee: After a subpar November in which the second-year Nets big man averaged just 5.1 points on 38.7 percent shooting and 4.5 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per game, Plumlee has taken off in the final month of 2014. The 6-foot-11 center has seen an increase in minutes and has scored in double figures in nine of his last 10 games, including four 20-plus point performances.
In December, Plumlee has averaged 12.8 points on 60.2 percent shooting, 8.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in 28.6 minutes per game. Although he is only shooting 41.9 percent from the free throw line this month and 44.6 percent for the season, the former rookie standout is heading in the right direction as the new year approaches.
Bear Market—Trending Down
Matt Jones' shooting stroke: Last week, Duke's bench was trending down after going scoreless against Connecticut, and this week sophomore guard Matt Jones is also heading in the wrong direction before the new year. The DeSoto, Texas, native has maintained his strong defensive play off the bench, but is once again struggling with rotation on his jump shot as he did for much of last season.
After starting the season 20-of-31 from the field and 10-of-17 from 3-point range, Jones has gone just 1-of-11 from the field, including an 0-of-7 clip from downtown in his past three games. The 6-foot-5 guard has also committed three of his eight turnovers during the stretch and will need to regain his touch from the outside for the Blue Devil coaching staff to feel comfortable with him playing big minutes off the bench.
Marshall Plumlee's free throw percentage: The redshirt junior center was 6-of-25 from the free throw line during his first two seasons, but bounced back by starting the season 10-of-10 before finally missing from the charity stripe against Toledo Monday night. The 7-footer went 2-of-4 against the Rockets and is now shooting 85.7 percent from the free throw line with conference play approaching. It will be interesting to see whether or not Plumlee can continue being efficient in all facets of the game—including his free throw shooting—when he spells freshman phenom Jahlil Okafor.
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