The Duke Blue Devils are 1-0 to start the regular season after defeating the Maine Black Bears in a great showing on offense.
The Blue Devils offense moved the ball through the two freshmen Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, who are leaders on the team. Flagg had a solid offensive performance, but struggled from deep against his hometown Maine defense. Knueppel, however, looked excellent on both sides of the game and led the team in scoring with 22-points in his first official collegiate game.
Knueppel shot the lights out for the Duke Blue Devils in his team and collegiate debut against the Maine Black Bears. The guard was the go-to shooter in the first-half of play for the team, draining 80% of his shots. On defense, Knueppel also proved to be a worthy defender, shutting down multiple drives from opposing Maine players.
While Knueppel stole the show with his exceptional shooting, arguably the best performance of the game was that of Flagg. The former top-overall recruit struggled from the floor at times, especially from deep, but showcased excellent post moves to make multiple shots drop. The guard also did an excellent job at drawing fouls while driving against the Maine defense, shooting six free-throws and nailing them all.
Forward Tyrese Proctor was another bright spot for the Duke Blue Devils, shooting deep three-point shots for the team. Proctor was lights out from deep and also delivered an efficient performance from deep, while snagging multiple rebounds for the team.
With plenty of moving parts to consider, the Duke Blue Devils looked like a good team in the win over Maine, but did not look perfect yet.
What Went Right, What Went Wrong For the Duke Blue Devils Against the Maine Black Bears
While plenty went right for the Duke Blue Devils in the big win, there was also a lot the team still needs to improve on ahead of big games this season.
Starting with what the team did correctly, the Blue Devils managed to create space and take intelligent shots the majority of the game. Many were concerned about the distribution of the basketball coming into the season with so many scorers on the team. However, the Blue Devils did an excellent job passing and played a ton of perimeter basketball against Maine.
With what the team struggled with in mind, the Duke Blue Devils only truly need to work on taking care of the ball more moving forward. The Blue Devils had the ball stolen nearly a dozen times by the starting lineup, and Maine scored off of many of the steals. Once Duke plays against tougher and deeper teams, the offense is going to have to take care of the basketball otherwise teams will run the score up.
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