Trevon Duval's retweet outraged Duke fans. He's trying to earn back their trust.
Trevon Duval saw the tweets.
He heard the criticism. How could he not? They came at the 19-year-old Duke freshman point guard like an avalanche.
Minutes after Duke's 82-78 loss to rival North Carolina on Feb. 8, Duval retweeted a video highlight that showed him dunking on UNC's defense.
"I wanted it to be on ESPN," Duval said of why he chose to retweet the dunk.
It was a great dunk, and one that eventually made it on SportsCenter's Top 10 highlights. Duval's retweet has since been removed. But the retweet so close to that loss seemed to irk some Duke fans.
"Trevon Duval took the time to retweet a video of his dunk before even leaving the locker room after a game they lost. real team player," said one tweet.
"you are a disgrace and had I been at Devine's last night when you walked in I would have poured a pitcher on your head," said another.
Many around Duke's program consider Duval, a 6-3, 186-pound point guard, to be one of the most competitive players on Duke's roster. He hates losing almost as much as senior guard Grayson Allen does. But the dunk retweet was not a good look for Duval.
Duke special assistant Nolan Smith said the coaches let him know about it.
"That was young," Smith said about the retweet. "I think that's just our youth today. They're very into social media and they hop on it quick right after games. That's just somebody being young and made a mistake, because for him, he's a guy that's all about winning."
It also did not help that Duval had been struggling. His play had dropped off, and he had been turning the ball over at high rates.
He was averaging 3.5 turnovers per game over 10 games between Jan. 6 and that Feb. 8 game against UNC. His turnovers and decision-making were starting to have a negative effect his play and the team. Whenever he made a mistake, he would immediately look at the bench. He was also struggling on the defensive end. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski removed Duval from the starting lineup in the Blue Devils' 80-69 win over Georgia Tech on Feb. 11. Freshman guard Alex O'Connell, who had never started a game before, started in Duval's place.
Allen was moved to point guard.
The move to put Allen at point guard took pressure off of Duval to be the sole playmaker. For most of the season up to that point, that role was Duval's.
Duval had a big start to the season, and he was as good as any point guard in the country. Through the first three games he had 30 assists and only four turnovers, a better than 7:1 assists to turnover ratio.
But his play was up and down after that. And in January, he struggled the most. His shot was off and he looked as if he was lacking confidence.
"I stayed on him the whole year," Allen said. "There's not one thing I told him that clicked. A lot of it was just a freshman point guard has to figure out the game, and it's very tough. I saw it my freshman year with Tyus (Jones). He wasn't the great point guard that he finished the year as. He had to grow, learn and adjust and so you're going to go through struggles as a freshman point guard."
Duval has played more off the wing in recent games. Since the switch, Duval has slowly gotten better each game. He had his biggest game against UNC on March 3. While he did not start, and played sparingly in the first half, he came in during the the second half and made plays for his teammates. He recorded six assists and had no turnovers.
He and Bagley, who had 21 points, helped lead Duke in that game to a 74-64 win over UNC at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"Trevon was huge for us," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after that game. "Huge."
Duval continued his good play into the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament. He had 11 assists in Duke's 88-70 win over Notre Dame on Thursday. While he had 6 turnovers, the turnovers were not from making the same bad-decisions that plagued him in January. And it didn't have much of a negative effect on the game for Duke. He made plays and made things easier for his teammates.
Duke averaged 1.222 points per possession, compared to the national average of 1.054.
"He deserved it," Smith said about the initial criticism of Duval. "But for me, for a former player, for a guy that has been in the NBA, a place he wants to get to, I told him look, you've got to play better. You've got to continue to work and continue to develop your habits, and he's done that. He's gotten better throughout the year, and I'm sure Twitter is probably on his side now."
"And they should be."
Smith said he thinks Duke is at its best when Duval, who is averaging 10.3 points per game and 5.5 assists, is playing well.
"For me, look at these last two games," Smith said. "The second half in the Carolina game, when he came in, he was the one who really gave us that spark. Seven assists and no turnovers. And obviously tonight. Eleven assists and just playing basketball. He made some mistakes but he was still being aggressive and we kept going to him."
The criticism will come from fans no matter what happens. Duval knows that. He said he hasn't let the criticism have a negative effect on him.
"If anything, it definitely fuels me," Duval said. "Because when I receive any type of negative feedback or anything negative, like even on the court when fans are booing, or whatever, I feel like I'm fueled by that."
Duke vs. UNC
ACC tournament semifinals
When: 9 p.m., Friday
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
TV: ESPN, WRAL
This story was originally published March 9, 2018 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Trevon Duval's retweet outraged Duke fans. He's trying to earn back their trust.."