With Jalen Johnson’s departure, who will be Duke basketball’s post players?
Jalen Johnson’s decision to declare for the NBA draft and end his Duke season removes a supremely talented player from the Blue Devils roster.
The answer to what Duke will look like without him, though, only requires a look back to Saturday.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski started 7-foot freshman center Mark Williams in the post along with 6-9 sophomore forward Matthew Hurt against N.C. State. The 6-9 Johnson played just eight minutes as the Blue Devils won 69-53 at PNC Arena.
This has become the preferred alignment for Duke over the last few weeks.
The N.C. State game marked the third game in a row Williams started while Johnson, a projected top-10 pick in this summer’s draft, came off the bench.
“At one time, Matt and Jalen were our bigs,” Krzyzewski said Saturday. “But if there’s a big guy playing like Mark is, you’ve got to keep playing him. Look, Mark and Matt, they were really good today. So it’s nothing against any kid, but sometimes some kids are better in a ballgame.”
Johnson’s struggles with the Blue Devils
Krzyzewski said Johnson was “knocked back” by the game’s physicality against N.C. State. He noted that two other freshmen forwards, 6-8 Jaemyn Brakefield and 6-7 Henry Coleman, handled that physicality better and thus were rewarded with more playing time.
This came on the heels of Johnson playing 15 minutes off the bench in Duke’s 93-89 loss to Notre Dame on Feb. 9.
Johnson turned in a productive performance in Duke’s 91-87 loss to North Carolina on Feb. 6, scoring 14 points with five rebounds and just two turnovers in his 25 minutes of play.
Since then, he combined for 23 minutes, 11 points, zero rebounds and four turnovers in what turned out to be the final two games of his college career.
His inability to play on a consistent level allowed Williams, Coleman and Brakefield to earn more playing time.
Now, beginning with Duke’s game at Wake Forest on Wednesday night, they will be asked to handle the minutes inside without much depth behind them. The only other scholarship post player on the roster is 6-9 grad transfer Patrick Tapé, who battled a back injury last month and has only played four total minutes over Duke’s last seven games.
Mark Williams continues to improve
While Johnson’s season proved to be a disappointment given his pro potential, Williams has been the opposite. He’s continued to improve as the season has progressed.
Consider that Williams earned a start against Illinois on Dec. 8, only to produce two points, one rebound and two fouls in just seven minutes of play. He had similar performances when he started ACC games in early January against Wake Forest and Boston College, combining to play 10 total minutes with five rebounds and no points.
He’s averaged 17.1 minutes of play over Duke’s last six games, blocking four shots at Miami on Feb. 1 and five more on Saturday at N.C. State. The win over the Wolfpack marked Williams’ top game, when he played a season-best 28 minutes and scored 13 points with five rebounds.
“His shot-blocking presence really helps our team and me individually,” Hurt said. “I’m very comfortable playing with him. He gives me a lot of confidence and he’s only gonna get better. He’s young and he’s only gonna get better.”
N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said Williams’ play in the post, which allowed Hurt to move away from the basket on offense, made Duke hard to defend. Hurt drilled 6 of 7 3-pointers while scoring 24 points.
If that formula continues to develop for Duke, the Blue Devils (8-8, 6-6 ACC) could find success even missing a player of Johnson’s caliber.
But the idea of building an offense around two all-ACC forwards -- Johnson a preseason choice and Hurt looking like a postseason choice -- is over.
Duke at Wake Forest
When: 8:30 p.m., Wednesday
Where: Lawrence Joel Coliseum, Winston-Salem
Watch: ACC Network
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 2:40 PM.