Only two players in Duke Basketball history have hit more three pointers than Andre Dawkins did tonight. Shane Battier and JJ Redick have their jerseys hanging in the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium. While it’s way too early to know whether Andre will achieve the same feat or not, it was a marvelous individual performance on a night when his Coach, Mike Krzyzewski moved into 3rd place on the all-time wins list for NCAA Men’s Basketball coaches with 877.
Duke took care of Bradley with ease, 83-48, extending their nonconference home winning streak to 81 games. It didn’t come easy however in the first 20 minutes as the Devils struggled to find their rhythm while replacing their starting freshman point guard just 8 games into his career. Accomplishing such a task is always tough for a team to do in the middle of a season. It’s even harder when the team has clearly and admittedly changed their entire offensive system to fit the skills of this guard. With Kyrie in the lineup, the #1 offensive game plan off of a missed shot, made shot, turnover, or inbounds set was to put the ball in his hands and let him make a play. Often, that involved pushing the ball up the court and not allowing the other team to setup on defense before Kyrie could attack the basket. Now that he’s not in the game, the biggest question mark heading into this game was how the team would play without their #1 option. It was clear in the first half that question was not answered.
Sure, Miles Plumlee didn’t miss a shot in the opening stanza. Sure, Andre Dawkins hit some shots. But, #1 was missing. You could tell in the hesitation on penetration. You could see it on a lazy pass by Seth Curry that was deflected out of bounds. It was the monkey in the room for nearly 20 minutes.
CHUCK LIDDY - cliddy@newsobserver.com
Luckily for Duke, they have the best coach in the game at making halftime adjustments. And they have Andre Dawkins. He has by far the prettiest stroke on this team and that’s saying something. He’s also added a nice little teardrop runner which has been a dangerous weapon for him when he forces defenders to respect his outside shot.
If the question heading into this game was how Duke would replace Kyrie Irving, and it was, the answer was simple. The way they do everything. As a team. 8 players notched over 11 minutes. They had 22 assists on 30 made shots. They shot 50% from the field and 45% from three point range. Coach K may have made the halftime adjustments. Andre Dawkins may have made the majority of his shots (59% from the field). Miles Plumlee may have made all his shots (7-7!) All of that matters, but what truly matters is that this team is designed to replace the best point guard in the country because they are a great team.
