Can Kyle Filipowski ‘show up every night’ for Duke basketball this season? It’s imperative
A year after being the latest in a parade of highly touted freshmen to enter Duke’s program, Kyle Filipowski walked around Wednesday with a new tag — All-American.
Entering his sophomore season with the No. 2 Blue Devils, after leading their ACC championship team in scoring and rebounding a year ago, the 7-foot center is far more of a known entity in ACC and national basketball circles.
That brings a different level of pressure and expectation.
“The more we rely on you to be really our best player and key guy,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, “you’ve got to show up every night. So I think that’s the burden of that expectation, which is key.”
Filipowski turned in plenty of big-time performances last season when he averaged 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds and was named the ACC’s top freshman. He scored 20 points or more in six games. Three of those games came during Duke’s 10-game winning streak that included the ACC Tournament.
At the same time, Filipowski also went scoreless in Duke’s controversial 69-62 overtime loss at Virginia on Feb. 11. He scored six points when Duke beat Oral Roberts, 74-51, in an NCAA Tournament first-round game.
Scheyer and the Blue Devils need more consistency from Filipowski to reach their Final Four and NCAA championship goals this season. And he’ll have to do it without fellow 7-footer Dereck Lively to help in the post because Lively moved on to the NBA after his freshman year.
All of the top ACC centers — North Carolina’s Armando Bacot, Clemson’s PJ Hall, N.C State’s DJ Burns, among others — will mainly be Filipowski’s responsibility this season.
“I am mentally prepared for it,” Filipowski said. “I think I’ll only get better as the season goes on, with having that mindset and physically being able to do that. I think for me it’s just going to be a lot of playing smart.”
One way for Filipowski to improve his scoring will be away from the basket. He made 28.2% of his 3-pointers last season and has designs on bumping that number much higher. That will help Duke and Filipowski’s future NBA team, and Scheyer is confident the sophomore can make that happen.
Though he was recovering from arthroscopic surgery on both hips during the spring and summer, Filipowski did focus on improving his distance shooting. It helped that shooting was one of the first things he was cleared to do in rehabilitation.
“Just a lot of repetition,” Filipowski said. “Like, muscle memory with the mechanics and the confidence as well. To be honest when I shoot that ball and, you know, I’m like ‘This is gonna go in,’ I feel like my percentage is a lot higher than being a little hesitant.”
In Duke’s offense, Filipowski will have plenty of opportunities where he catches the ball on the perimeter with chances to get his own points or set up a teammate to hit a basket. Scheyer calls that an underrated part of Filipowski’s game.
“He’s the guy we want to play through a lot,” Scheyer said. “So, not just a scorer, but his passing and playmaking will show.”
On the defensive end, Lively was Duke’s ultimate backstop last season with his shot-blocking capabilities. Scheyer saw Filipowski improve as his freshman season progressed. Now, he’s ready for an even better level of defensive play.
“I thought he made some big strides on defense,” Scheyer said. “I want to see him do it for a full year. He’s gonna be asked to switch (to smaller players). He’s gonna be asked to guard bigs. He’s gonna be asked to guard fours. He’s gonna be asked to guard everybody, and his versatility will be a key thing on defense for us.”
Filipowski has been named an All-American. Scheyer is confident he’s ready to play and produce like one.
This story was originally published October 25, 2023 at 3:55 PM.