Amile Jefferson
The statline:
Tuesday vs. Kansas: 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, four rebounds, two assists and one block in 30 minutes
Saturday vs. Penn State: 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, 15 rebounds and four blocks in 37 minutes
Sunday vs. Rhode Island: 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and 15 rebounds in 36 minutes
The good: The injuries just seem to keep piling on for Duke, with the frontcourt taking the brunt of the damage. Leg injuries have kept freshmen Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden from seeing any action this season, and sophomore Chase Jeter joined the list Saturday, spraining his ankle early against Penn State and only playing eight minutes the rest of the weekend. The only frontcourt rotation player left standing was Jefferson.
The lack of many healthy interior options has forced head coach Mike Krzyzewski to play primarily a four-guard lineup with only Jefferson on the inside. The 6-foot-9 graduate student has thrived in this role, playing similarly to how he did last year when he averaged a double-double before going down with a foot injury for most of the season. Jefferson’s experience and strength were on full display last week, as he used his strong body and smooth post moves en route to two consecutive games of at least 15 points and 15 rebounds in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Saturday and Sunday.
The bad: Due to the lack of any other bodies down low, Jefferson has been forced to almost always guard opponents' biggest players under the basket. The Philadelphia native has been solid on defense, but with nobody to help out in the paint, he has been racking up fouls. He was forced to sit at the end of the Kansas game after picking up his fifth foul with less than two minutes left, and he had four and three fouls, respectively, during the two weekend games. Jefferson also could not handle the Jayhawks' defensive pressure at times, committing seven turnovers in Tuesday's loss.
The bottom line: For as long as Giles and Bolden are out, Jefferson will be the go-to guy down low in a very perimeter-heavy Duke offense. If he can maintain his high level of production against two top-25 teams and another Power-5 opponent, it may be hard for Krzyzewski to bench him in place of Giles or Bolden when they come back.
Honorable mention: Sophomore Luke Kennard has been hot out of the gates this season. The only Blue Devil with multiple 20-point games, Kennard has scored in a plethora of ways, slashing to the hoop and hitting 3-pointers in a way that reminds viewers of how he scored more points in high school in Ohio than LeBron James. With junior captain Grayson Allen struggling, Kennard has been hard to stop on the perimeter, dropping 22 points against Kansas and 24 against Rhode Island.
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