Jeremy Roach on His Role With Duke: "Let All the Guys Eat"
Duke freshman point guard Jeremy Roach is third on the team in scoring, at 13.1 ppg, but he hasn’t put up many shots, ranking just fifth on the team in shot attempts, and that’s only because Jalen Johnson has missed the last two games, allowing Roach to finally pass him.
“We’re still in the process of understanding our roles,” Roach said. “Obviously, I could be more aggressive, but I’m just trying to get guys involved. Let all the guys eat, and then my shots will come. But, just not to force anything is a big thing.”
Duke has plenty of players who can run the point for the team. In addition to Roach, freshman combo guard DJ Steward has spent time with the ball in his hand, as has senior Jordan Goldwire, who leads the Blue Devils in assists. Sophomore Wendell Moore is also versatile enough to run the offense, as well.
“Whoever the five guys are on the court, that’s who we’re going to war with,” Roach said. “It doesn’t really matter who’s in – me, DJ, J-Gold, Wendell – we’re all going to eat. We’re all going to have our nights. Saturday could be DJ’s night. It could be my night. It could be Gold’s night, It could be ‘Dell’s night again. It doesn’t matter. We’ve got a bunch of guys who can hoop and play together.”
Duke returned to the court earlier this week and had a 16-point comeback to beat Boston College. Roach would like to see the team come out faster to avoid the need for comebacks. “Just playing for 40 minutes,” he said. “As you know, the beginning of the first half, we were kind of playing tired. Weren’t playing like ourselves, trying to get our legs under us. We hadn’t played in three weeks. A point of emphasis was trying to play 40 minutes. Late in the first half – I think it was three minutes left in the first half – we started playing, and then obviously in the second half, I got the quick, easy six points and then we turned it after that. But it really started on the defensive end and that’s the key.”
