What we learned about Duke basketball in exhibition win ahead of Monday season opener
The dress rehearsal completed, Jon Scheyer’s big show begins on Monday night.
In his first season as Duke’s head basketball coach following Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement, Scheyer watched the Blue Devils dismantle Division II Fayetteville State, 82-45, in an exhibition game on Wednesday night.
He did so with two players who are expected to be starters, 7-1 Dereck Lively and 6-6 Dariq Whitehead, sitting on the bench in street clothes.
Their injury situations loom as the No. 7-ranked Blue Devils prepare for their first regular-season game on Monday against Jacksonville.
Scheyer said Whitehead won’t play in the season-opener.
“He’s still a couple weeks away,” Scheyer said.
Both Lively and Whitehead are projected to be first-round picks in next summer’s NBA draft, perhaps even lottery picks. Lively has a calf muscle strain, while Whitehead is recovering from a fractured right foot.
Without them, Duke didn’t shoot well and allowed Houston to shoot 54% during a scrimmage last Saturday as the No. 3 Cougars won, 61-50.
Against Fayetteville State, which is of course not a fellow top-10 team, Duke’s shooting improved as expected and the Blue Devils defended more effectively.
Here’s what Duke showed in the exhibition and what to watch for as the Blue Devils prepare to open the season.
Lively, Whitehead status
Neither Lively nor Whitehead showed any outward signs of their injuries Wednesday night. No walking boots. No crutches.
All along, Duke has indicated that Lively’s less serious injury should be healed and that he would return prior to Whitehead. Neither player is expected to miss a significant number of games although if Whitehead is still at least two weeks away, he would miss the first three games, including the Nov. 15 Champions Classic game with Kansas.
Whitehead had surgery on Aug. 30 and Scheyer consistently said he would return this fall. His progress has been slow and steady but is not complete enough for him to be cleared to play.
Scheyer said both players did some on-court work Wednesday after the team’s usual day-of-game walk through.
“The big thing for both of those guys is not just being completely healthy, which they’re right there,” Scheyer said. “But it’s you have to build up your game shape again. We don’t want to put them out there too early at all. But they’re working hard.”
How the starting five shapes up
Without Lively and Whitehead, Duke started the same five against Fayetteville State as it did in the Houston scrimmage.
Junior guard Jeremy Roach was joined by freshman guard Tyrese Proctor, freshman forwards Mark Mitchell and Kyle Filipowski and graduate transfer center Ryan Young.
Mitchell (15 points) and Young (12 points) were the only starters who scored in double figures.
The first player off the bench against Fayetteville State was 6-6 forward Jacob Grandison, a grad transfer who played at Illinois the past two seasons.
Sophomore guard Jaylen Blakes and freshman guard Jaden Schutt also played in the first half.
At times, Scheyer substituted Grandison for the 6-11 Filipowski to go with a smaller lineup that also included Proctor, Roach, Mitchell and Young.
During another stretch, Blakes joined Roach and Proctor as ball handlers with Filipowski and Young inside.
“We definitely want to play fast,” Scheyer said. “We have four guys on the floor at times, even five guys who do push and start the break and we made really good decisions. I thought we had them on their heels in random spots.”
Hitting open shots
Duke’s players and staff weren’t overly concerned when the Blue Devils hit only 2 of 17 shots from behind the 3-point line against Houston.
They contended the offense worked, but open shots were simply missed.
Well, the shots fell at a higher clip against Fayetteville State. The Blue Devils hit 5 of 9 3-pointers while building a 50-22 halftime lead.
They finished at 8 of 19 on 3-pointers (42.1%) while shooting 56.6% overall (30 of 53).
“Pushing the pace trying to get easy baskets,” Roach said. “Trying not to set up 5-on-5 too often. Trying to just flow the offense and get some easy buckets.”
Known as an excellent 3-point shooter at Illinois, Grandison sank two of his three first-half 3-pointers on Wednesday night. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting while making 3-of-6 3-pointers. That’s exactly what the Blue Devils would love to see from him.
Young hit 5-of-6 shots inside while Mitchell made 5 of 8 with a mix of jumpers and shots in the paint. Together, they combined to make all seven of their free-throw attempts, a promising sign.
The improved offense came with good ball movement. Duke had 21 assists on 30 made field goals after collecting only four assists on 15 field goals against Houston.
Roach had eight assists against Fayetteville State, and Proctor had three.
“I thought our guys did a great job of sharing the ball and played with great effort and energy,” Scheyer said.
Blakes taking advantage
Seldom used as a freshman on Duke’s Final Four team last season , Blakes is making the case for playing time this season with a main ball handler like Whitehead not available.
He played 18 minutes, scoring three points with six rebounds, in the Houston scrimmage without committing a turnover.
Against Fayetteville State, Blakes scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting in 27 minutes of play. On the downside, he turned the ball over four times. On the plus side, he recorded three assists and two steals.
“Jalen had a few turnovers late where he was being too unselfish trying to get guys shots,” Scheyer said.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 8:50 PM.