Behind Enemy Lines: 5 Questions For Duke Maven's Shawn Krest
Playing in their first game home game in 3 weeks, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are gearing up to welcome the #2 Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday at 9:00pm down at McCamish Pavilion.
Ahead of tomorrow's conference matchup, SI's Jackets Maven sat down with SI's Duke Maven's Shawn Krest to find out more about the Blue Devils.
1. How has Duke bounced back from their loss to Stephen F. Austin?
One of the Cameron Crazies’ favorite chants, after an opposing player commits a dumb foul or makes a bad turnover, is the chant, “You let the Whole. Team. Down. You let the Whole. Team. Down.” I think that’s what this Duke team felt after the SFA loss. This wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill early season upset—it snapped an 18-plus year home winning streak over non-conference teams. I think they felt the weight of all the Duke tradition and the players who have come before them, more heavily than anything Coach K could have said and done to motivate them. This is a very young team and “You let the Whole. Program. Down.” was very personal to them. Their focus and killer instinct has been honed ever since.
2. How does the injury to Wendell Moore affect Duke’s rotation?
Moore is probably too talented to be called a “glue guy,” but that’s what he’s been for the Blue Devils this year. He’s struggled with turnovers and shooting in the early going this season, but he’s one of the most versatile players on the roster. He can play post or run the point and has done both at times this season. He really came into his own when Tre Jones went down for two games with an ankle injury. He also helps make Duke’s pressure defense run. He’s versatile enough to defend all five positions, and his size and length also help him when the Blue Devils use him to trap near midcourt.
3. Is Vernon Carey, Jr. as good as advertised?
I’d go as far as to say he’s been better than advertised. This is a guy who hadn’t played the post in high school, summer ball or ever before arriving on Duke’s campus in the summer. He was used as a wing player in high school and faced the basket, starting on the outside. Every post move he’s used, he was taught by Duke assistants in the last six months. He seems to pick things up extremely quickly, and nothing seems to phase him—from Coach K’s yelling to the increase physical play now that the ACC conference schedule has started.
4. What makes Tre Jones such a good ball distributor?
That’s a good way of putting it—“ball distributor.” It’s very rare that you notice a Tre Jones assist. He doesn’t have the jaw-dropping high difficulty level pass. He just gets the ball where it needs to go. I think that’s one of the reasons Carey has been so good this year, because Jones knows when and where to get him the ball.
5. What is the biggest weakness of this Duke team?
They don’t have that one killer who demands the ball at crunch time. The team’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness—it’s versatility. There hasn’t been the one guy who has separated himself from everyone else as the go-to guy.
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