No one could reasonably deny that Mason Plumlee's performance against Maryland Wednesday night was perhaps the best game of his career. The Duke big man posted 23 points and 12 rebounds but also dished out four assists and had at least one blocked shot.
Plumlee's career has been marked most notably by waiting. Waiting on his part and on the parts of the Blue Devil fans.
Prior to his freshman year the hype was that he was better than his older brother Miles and that he'd play a significant role on the 2009-2010 squad. But before that could be even put to the test Plumlee was sidelined with a wrist injury that forced him to miss the first several games of the season.
When he did return his athleticism was unmistakable. There are certainly some strong family genes there that allow the Plumlee brothers to be some of the most athletic 6 foot 9 inches to 6 foot 11 inch big men. But for the most part of their career that has all they've been.
While Mason and to an extent brother Miles have shown glimpses of brilliance, neither has played at a high level with any consistency.
During last season, Mason came out of the gates like a man on fire. He was dominant at times and with Kyrie Irving running the point, the duo at other times was simply unstoppable.
Then Irving got hurt and Plumlee disappeared for a long time. He didn't score in double figures over the next five games and then following a 14 point performance against UAB he wouldn't score in double figures over the next seven games including two games where he scored no points at all.
He would only score more than 10 points five more times the entire season. For a team that needed an inside presence he wasn't providing them one.
Mason has always been the guy who can throw down an impressive dunk or grab a lot of rebounds, but he has at times shown an inability to score in the half court against either defender of comparable size or even smaller.
Fast forward to this year and he was to take even a further step forward. So far the numbers have been fairly solid.
He is averaging almost a double double at 11 point and 9.8 rebounds per game but aside from his performance against Maryland he hasn't been dominant. He's been solid but not elite.
There has clearly been work put in and he has developed some go to moves in the post but is still fine tuning them.
At Maryland though it all came together. His performance against the Terps showed a Mason Plumlee that was aggressive going to the basket, confident at the free throw line, and demanding the ball when Duke couldn't muster more than three three-point shots.
He took advantage of being the biggest strongest man on the court and played like it.
But was this another flash Plumlee flash in the pan or will it trigger other dominant performances. Some attribute his great success to Maryland's lack of interior size. Gone is Jordan Williams who was a force inside.
Plumlee has played well against teams with good or elite bigs, but hasn't dominated a game with one. This coming Saturday's game against St. John's isn't a chance for Mason to go up against an elite big to prove something, but it is his chance to show that he can dominate the interior against a smaller team.
Duke has enough scorers where Plumlee doesn't have to be the leading scorer every game, but against smaller teams, the Blue Devils need to rely on Plumlee to be a consistent scoring option.
He will have his chance to take another leap and show a consistency that has thus avoided this entire team this season. They can get 20 or more points from almost anyone in the lineup on a given night, but they don't get it with any consistency and that has been the biggest issue.
Plumlee could start to provide that consistency. He has the talent, and he appears to have the will, but he has to show the ability to do it. Now will he?
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