No. 8 Duke will host Georgia Tech Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium looking to rebound from a tough loss against Virginia Tech in its first conference game of the season. The Yellow Jackets visit Durham coming off their biggest victory of the season against then-No. 8 North Carolina, and the Blue Devils face many question marks with the indefinite suspension of Grayson Allen and the looming absence of head coach Mike Krzyzewski due to back surgery. Here are three keys to success for Duke Wednesday:
Share the ball
The Blue Devils will be without Allen once again Wednesday night, signaling a need for the team to move the basketball and find another facilitator on offense. Without Allen’s dribble penetrations and outside scoring ability, Duke must look to break down Georgia Tech's defense by making the extra pass and not settling for contested jumpers.
Freshman guard Frank Jackson has to stay aggressive on the offensive end, looking to penetrate into the lane and create for his teammates, and sophomore Luke Kennard, senior Matt Jones and freshman Jayson Tatum will need to knock down open jumpers when they get the ball on the perimeter.
Set the tone early
The young Blue Devils team will need to show poise and play with confidence from the opening tip after digging themselves into an immediate 8-0 hole Saturday against the Hokies. Duke's two captains—Jones and graduate student Amile Jefferson—will need to set the tone early on the defensive end given their experience. Facing a team coming off a huge victory, the Blue Devils must bring a high level of intensity to take the Yellow Jackets out of their game and keep them from gaining confidence against another top-10 team.
If Duke pressures Georgia Tech’s ball handlers and stops dribble penetration into the paint, it could do a good job of containing the Yellow Jacket offense. Georgia Tech averages just 4.2 made 3-pointers per game, ranking 345th out of 347 Division I teams, so the Blue Devils will need to make the Yellow Jackets play from the perimeter.
Control the inside
Georgia Tech features one of the ACC’s top post players in 6-foot-10 center Ben Lammers. The junior from San Antonio is an elite rim protector who leads the ACC with 3.6 blocks per game and is capable of scoring from inside, averaging a double-double with 14.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
Duke must provide Jefferson with help on the inside by crashing the boards and packing the paint on defense, forcing Lammers to pass the ball to the perimeter where his team lacks marquee shooters. Freshman Harry Giles, sophomore Chase Jeter and freshman Marques Bolden could all see time Wednesday, and they will need to establish themselves in the interior for the Blue Devils to be successful.
Offensively, Duke should look to attack Lammers and move the ball to find open shooters and free up driving lanes.
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