In a season that has been filled with frustration at times, two of Duke’s most crowd-pleasing moments have been provided by a pair of youngsters.
Before the regular season even began, freshman Frank Jackson ignited the Cameron Crazies, making the court his personal dance floor and stealing the spotlight with a series of electric moves.
“The last song, it was great. That’s a great visual,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said following Countdown to Craziness Oct. 22. “I’m probably going to laugh at that for a long time.”
But fellow rookie Jayson Tatum may have topped his classmate’s performance with a game-changing dunk over North Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks Feb. 9 that surely cemented itself as a future clip in the Blue Devils’ pregame highlight reel.
“He’s a 'SportsCenter' boy tonight. He’s going to learn and continue to get better,” sophomore Luke Kennard said following Duke’s victory. “That’s what he wants to do, that’s why he came here.”
With the ups and downs of the regular season behind them, the two freshmen with a flair for the dramatic could make or break the Blue Devils' ability to keep dancing late into March.
Despite getting out of the gates slowly in conference play with just a 3-4 record, Duke engineered a turnaround by getting key—but vastly different—contributions from both Tatum and Jackson.
After coming to Durham with an NBA-ready body and a versatility game uncommon in the college ranks, Tatum seemed like a sure bet to put up big numbers from the get-go. But the 6-foot-8 swingman sprained his left foot during a pro-day Oct. 25 and his return to the court was not nearly as smooth as Blue Devil fans hoped.
Although the freshman’s stats did not suffer much, the St. Louis native provided only tantalizing flashes of the talent he brought to the table. Mixed in with a standout performance against Florida that left even former Duke star Kyrie Irving shaking his head were a pair of tough afternoons against Louisville and Wake Forest on the road as well as a crushing loss to N.C. State.
Against the Wolfpack, Tatum missed multiple layups late in the game and lost control of the ball on the team's final possession with his team down by two.
“I didn’t know how physical it was, especially going into conference play,” Tatum said before Duke’s regular-season finale against North Carolina. “Conference play is a lot different than those few games I played before conference. It’s so much more intense. The game is so much faster than I anticipated.”
But the Blue Devils got a more assertive and aggressive Tatum for the latter half of ACC play, starting with the freshman’s first double-double in a win at Notre Dame Jan. 30. After shooting just 26.7 percent from beyond the arc in nonconference play, Tatum started to find his rhythm on his jump shot and gave Duke another weapon capable of doing damage on the perimeter.
The main factor in the freshman’s progression may have just been time, as the team slowly figured out how to integrate his one-on-one talents in an offense predicated on ball movement.
“Having to guard the other team’s four, it’s not always easy, but it’s a team game and we’re all out there together helping each other,” Tatum said. “On the offensive end, the mismatch is hopefully there for me to create and not just score.”
If Tatum has been the creator for the Blue Devils, Jackson has been the sparkplug for a Duke team that has played to the level of its competition all season. With an explosive first step and an improving perimeter shot, Jackson has allowed the Blue Devils to space the floor and grown more comfortable, all while sporting the same laser-focused look of intensity all season.
The freshman had no hesitation hoisting up a key game-tying 3-pointer in Duke’s loss to Kansas Nov. 15 and showcased his ability to light up the scoreboard early in the season. But Jackson struggled to play with the same attacking mentality early in conference play, before coming on late and averaging 17.7 points per contest in the final three games of the regular season with junior Grayson Allen limited by an ankle injury.
“Frank gives us a type of energy that nobody can really give us on the team,” Kennard said before the regular-season finale. “It’s something different. When he’s playing well, we’re an even better team and that’s what we need from him. He just plays so hard and it’s fun to be on a team with a guy like that.”
For two players that could not look more different on the court, the important common thread between the freshman duo going forward is its ability to contribute on both sides of the floor.
In Tatum’s case, playing at the four forced him to compete with physical ACC bigs in the post for rebounds, and the freshman responded with solid efforts on the boards in wins against bigger teams such as the Tar Heels and Florida State. Duke’s limited presence down low has been a question mark all season, but if Tatum can continue to clean the glass, the Blue Devils' undersized lineup becomes a tough matchup for tournament teams with two traditional big men.
Along with bringing life to the floor, Jackson has honored his preseason commitment to improve as a defender. Although co-captains Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson have cemented themselves as the leaders of the Duke defense, Jackson could find himself matching up against some of the best guards in the nation as long as Allen’s health remains in question.
With Duke lacking an imposing shot blocker down low, preventing dribble penetration against speedy ball handlers is imperative if the Blue Devils hope to make a deep run.
“It’s funny because a year or two ago, I wasn’t known to play defense,” Jackson said during Duke’s preseason media day. “Some coaches would get at me for being lazy and when I came here, I made it a goal to lock in and be the best that I can be as an on-ball defender and off-ball defender.”
Although Kennard has been the steady driving force for the Blue Devils all season, there is no doubt that Duke will need one of its other talented perimeter options to step up.
In just a few days, the Blue Devils will enter the Big Dance no longer favored to come away with a sixth national title, which seemed well within reach before the season began.
But with Jackson and Tatum’s best moves on both ends of the court, Duke could emerge as the eye-popping act many expected to see.
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