Duke fans have not been shy in voicing their displeasure with Wendell Moore Jr.’s rocky start to the 2020-21 season.
The sophomore forward, who delivered one of the most memorable moments of Duke’s 2019-20 campaign with his game-winning putback against North Carolina, is no longer in the good graces of the Blue Devil faithful, as many continue to call for Moore to lose his starting spot.
I’m here to say, are you kidding me? All it takes is two subpar performances and all of a sudden people are acting as if Moore’s basketball talents were zapped away like he’s one of the players in Space Jam.
Let’s lay out the facts. This Duke squad is a long ways away from being an elite team. Outside of Matthew Hurt, every player has shown serious vulnerabilities in their game, so Moore is far from the only one not playing as expected.
I understand the frustration—Moore hasn’t come close to meeting the offseason buzz that led to a preseason All-ACC second team selection. But the best starting roster for Duke still includes Moore’s name in this upcoming matchup against Illinois.
Yes, Moore is shooting 25.9% from the field this season and had almost as many turnovers as he did points against Michigan State, but he has earned the right to start at least through December and prove that he is in fact the player he was hyped up to be coming into this year.
With COVID-19 protocols, no one got to play as much competitive basketball this offseason as they wanted to, and Moore could just be one of those players who has a few extra cobwebs to dust off before showcasing his new skills. It’s not like Moore is somebody with mediocre talent and a bad attitude. The Charlotte native came to Durham as a five-star recruit for a reason, and is one of the main leaders on this young Duke team.
A dialed-in Moore is a nightmare to match up against. Offensively, his slashing ability and success at getting to the free-throw line is second to none on this Blue Devil roster. On the other end of the court, Moore’s long wingspan and versatility gives him the power to cover the one, two, three and four positions, something that is a major plus if head coach Mike Krzyzewski continues to want to play small ball.
I get the temptation to jump ship with Moore and insert Jaemyn Brakefield into the starting five to go along with Jalen Johnson on the wing. Both Brakefield and Johnson have impressed thus far, and maybe starting the two together will lead to a successful regular season for Duke.
But that’s all it will lead to.
I’m sure everyone remembers how fun it was to watch the Blue Devils’ 2018 recruiting class of Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish torch their regular-season opponents together. But what happened once the NCAA tournament began? Two near-losses to inferior UCF and Virginia Tech teams and the eventual crumble to Michigan State in the Elite Eight.
On Duke’s last national championship team in 2015, the starting lineup consisted of two key returners in Quinn Cook and Matt Jones. While you could argue that Hurt and senior Jordan Goldwire could fill those roles, Moore simply has far more upside than the latter of those two.
Having experienced rotation pieces is becoming undervalued in today’s era of college basketball, but the squads that have those kinds of veterans typically fare much better in the postseason—just look at the last several NCAA tournament champions.
Sure, you can go ahead and give up on Moore now. But when March rolls around and the team lacks another seasoned veteran alongside Hurt, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
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Jake Piazza is a Trinity senior and was sports editor of The Chronicle's 117th volume.