Marshall Plumlee and Amile Jefferson key to Duke’s basketball success

One surprising early-season Duke basketball observation: The Blue Devils are going to rely heavily on Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee.

Maybe that should have been easier to see coming. But it wasn’t until Duke’s first open practice Oct. 2 and then the scrimmage at Saturday’s Countdown to Craziness that I realized this.

I’d use a pen, not pencil, and put Jefferson at the power forward and Plumlee at the center. No other big men on the roster are even close to their level. Freshman Brandon Ingram, despite gaining 23 pounds since July 1 to bring his weight to 190, strikes me more as a perimeter player than a forward. His height (6-foot-9) can cause matchup nightmares out there, and his string-bean frame likely will be problematic against ACC-level big men.

Freshman Chase Jeter is the most likely frontcourt reserve candidate at this point, but coach Mike Krzyzewski went out of his way to point out that Jeter is not on the same level as Plumlee and Jefferson.

“Chase is still learning,” Krzyzewski said. “Chase, he has a learning curve, like most freshmen. I wouldn’t put him in the category with those other two guys right now.”

The other scholarship big men on the roster, redshirt sophomore Sean Obi and freshman Antonio Vrankovic, look like major projects and split time with walk-on Justin Robinson during the scrimmage.

Plumlee and Jefferson give Duke a veteran presence at the back end of the defense for the first time since Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly manned the frontcourt in the 2012-13 season. That experience should pay dividends on the defensive end of the floor.

“When big guys have a good voice in the game, especially defensively, it helps you,” Krzyzewski said. “The perimeter, if they’re doing a good job, can’t look behind them. So if they have a voice telling them what’s going on behind them, they can do their job better. They trust that voice. Whenever we’ve had teams that have good, vocal big men on the defensive end, we’ve usually been a much better defensive team.”

Krzyzewski is optimistic that defense can be a strength of this group with Plumlee and Jefferson’s rebounding and the length of perimeter players like Ingram, Matt Jones, Grayson Allen and Derryck Thornton. Those rebounds should lead to offense in the form of transition baskets, with a variety of guards able to take the ball up the floor and score. That and outside shooting are the primary ways Duke is expecting to score this season.

“Obviously Marshall and Amile played well today,” Jones said after the scrimmage. “But (with) Brandon and Luke and Grayson and Derryck, our talent is more even. We don’t have a dominant force like Jahlil (Okafor). With that being said, as a team, we have to rely on each other to score more.”

It might take Duke some time to gel and find its offensive rhythm. In the meantime, defense has been the main focus of practice, with special emphasis on defending the ball screen and dribble handoffs.

Those are actions Plumlee and Jefferson can identify and call out for the rest of the team to hear. And those voices likely will be on the court much more often than not.

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Marshall Plumlee and Amile Jefferson key to Duke’s basketball success."