Blue Devils adjust as injuries, minutes start to mount

With only eight active scholarship players on the roster, two tough ACC games in the course of 72 hours might be cause for concern.

But on the back end of one of Duke's quick turnaround, the Blue Devils showed little fatigue in Saturday's 73-54 rout against Syracuse at Cameron Indoor Stadium, even on a night when the starting five played 86.5 percent of the team's minutes and scored 71 of the 73 total points.

Justise Winslow scored a career-high 23 points and Jahlil Okafor picked up yet another double-double, but with only two points from the bench trio of Amile Jefferson, Marshall Plumlee and Grayson Allen against the Orange, a concern lingers that constant time on the court could hamper Duke when it enters the postseason in a little more than a week.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski said that this concern is not about how many minutes his players play during the game, but how far they are pushed physically in practice.

"Kids don’t get tired from playing minutes," Krzyzewski said. "They get tired from over-practice. There is no kid in the world that gets tired from playing. You get tired if you play long minutes and then you practice long. None of those kids want to be out of a game."

Injury concerns to some of the Blue Devils' most important weapons, including Okafor and Quinn Cook, have heightened the concern about the team's health and physical limits as the regular season winds down.

Okafor sustained a sprained ankle Feb. 18 in Duke's 92-90 overtime win against North Carolina, and although he played the remainder of the game, the Preseason AP Player of the Year was sidelined the following Saturday against Clemson.

He has played through the nagging injury to help the the Blue Devils continue their nine-game win streak, but it has not been easy. Prior to the Syracuse game, he had to leave warm-ups and head to the training room to get re-taped, Krzyzewski said.

To make things worse, Cook rolled his ankle sprain in the second half after a lay-up that caused him to head to the bench for a few minutes, but the team's lone senior returned and played 34 minutes in Saturday's win.

Although the starting duo, in addition to Allen—who Krzyzewski called "gimpy" after an in-practice knee scare a few weeks ago and a rolled ankle Wednesday at Virginia Tech—has been ready to play on gameday, the practice routine has changed considerably.

Krzyzewski has toned down his practices and adjusted to the smaller number of players on his squad, paying special attention to Okafor, Cook and Allen. But he understands the importance of a healthy and well-rested squad heading into the postseason.

"We have to get ready physically," he said. "We have three guys with bad ankles, with Quinn [Cook] getting hurt today. That is not a good thing. Hopefully tomorrow we get a lot of therapy and on Monday it means you can't practice with those guys. So we have to get them well going into not just the ACC [tournament], but the NCAA tournament] too."

How can Duke adapt to their small roster, with three of their players banged up?

It starts with the bench. The Blue Devils will need the trio of Allen, Jefferson and Plumlee to put in a better performance than Saturday against the Orange, a game in which they barely made a dent in the stat sheet.

The potential is there, with important recent performances such as Jefferson's 13-point, five-rebound game in the North Carolina win and Allen's 10-point output three days later against Clemson. But the bench as whole needs to step up and provide meaningful minutes to give the starters some rest as Duke nears the postseason.

The re-emergence of Winslow also continues to relieve pressure off of Okafor, Cook and Tyus Jones, who have generally carried the offensive load this season. The Houston native is averaging 17.2 points per game in his last five contests, culminating in Saturday's career-high 23-point, nine-rebound performance against Syracuse.

Winslow's ability to slash through lanes and take some of the focus off Okafor in the paint has been crucial during the Blue Devils' nine-game winning streak and the freshman's 3-point shooting has improved of late as well, making six of his last 10 attempts.

The swingman is no stranger to playing through injury, as he was hampered in January by shoulder and rib injuries that took a toll on his production. But a month later, a healthy Winslow is re-establishing himself as one of the country's best freshmen.

When asked about whether he felt tired slashing through lanes and playing a full 40 minutes against the Orange, Winslow downplayed the worry about fatigue, and reiterated his will to win.

"As long as Coach leaves me in the game, I’m going to play my heart out" he said. "Crash the defensive boards, get down the floor. When I’m out there I am trying to make plays. Until Coach takes me out that’s what I am going to keep doing and stay active."

The Blue Devils will need this attitude and effort from all eight scholarship players if they hope make a run in the fast-approaching postseason.