Duke raised their 2015 National Championship banner on Saturday night while simultaneously looking ahead to the 2015-16 team.
Image via GoDuke.com
The Blue Devils held their annual Countdown to Craziness event on Saturday night. Before the Blue/White scrimmage took place, Duke added their 2015 National Championship banner to the rafters.
The Blue/White scrimmage consisted of two 12 minute halves and the teams were mixed up at halftime. Luke Kennard and Brandon Ingram led the way with 9 points a piece in the first half. Kennard ended the half with a 3 at the buzzer, his first 3 point field goal of the night.
In the second 12 minute scrimmage, Grayson Allen bounced back from a tough first 12 minutes to lead the way with 10 points, while Chase Jeter added 6 points and 6 rebounds. Allen's 10 points included this breakaway dunk on an outlet pass from Marshall Plumlee.
This is an extremely young Duke team with a ton of question marks at the moment. Derryck Thornton wasn't particularly convincing as the solution at point guard, although Mike Krzyzewski was quick to point out that most guards won't be when guarded by Matt Jones. That said, Thornton likely will share the point guard duties with several players, although when he is in the game he will likely take the role.
Brandon Ingram and Luke Kennard showed moments of scoring prowess, although neither did much else as they combined for just 2 rebounds and 1 assist. Kennard led the team in field goal attempts with 13, while Ingram and Grayson Allen each took 12 shots.
Duke's roster actually resembles the 2010 team quite a bit, minus all of the experience. It's a team made up of versatile wings and post players known more for their rebounding than scoring prowess. That 2010 team played defense, crashed the offensive glass, and knocked down the 3 point shot.
It remains to be seen what this 2015-16 team will look like, but Mike Krzyzewski has a very talented roster to work with.
