In the aftermath of the shoe blowout heard around the world, freshman sensation Zion Williamson of the Duke Blue Devils is day to day with a mild knee sprain. ESPN still has Duke as number one seed in the East Region in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology heading into Saturday night’s showdown with the Syracuse Orange. This is not surprising as the Blue Devils are currently rank third in the highly controversial NCAA Net Rankings that college basketball coaches everywhere, outside of Virginia Tech’s Buzz Williams, have no idea how the NET rankings truly work.
The injury to Williamson set off a firestorm of debate as to whether or not he should shut it down and get ready for the 2019 NBA Draft as Williamson is the projected number one pick by a wide margin. Williamson should do what is his best for him and his family and not give into what the mainstream media thinks he should do. It is clear that Williamson is a great competitor and should play once this injury settles down as it does not appear to be serious. Also, the schedule for Duke has three landmines left during the regular season starting on Saturday night at Syracuse followed by a trip to Virginia Tech and the final game of the regular season on March 9th against North Carolina. On paper, the Blue Devils should be able to win at least two out of those three games if guard R.J. Barrett can take control of the team leadership wise and, most importantly, knock down shots from the perimeter. Barrett is averaging 23.1 points per game along with 7.6 rebounds per contest this season. In addition, Barrett is shooting 33.1 percent from behind the three-point line and that number is going to have to increase to between 37-40 percent while Williamson is out.
Guard Tre Jones is also going to have to elevate his play offensively while Williamson is out by attacking the basket, getting to the foul line and improving his three-point shooting. Jones is shooting just 25.9 percent from three-point range. That number won’t cut it in the postseason as teams have done an excellent job in the three games that Duke has lost this season. Cam Reddish will be another key player for the Blue Devils the rest of the way as he has averaged 14.3 points per game but one flaw in his game has been his inconsistency shooting the basketball. Reddish has only knocked down 36.2 percent of his shots from the floor. If Reddish can become more consistent at the offensive end of the court, it will be a huge plus for Duke.
Bottom line, head coach Mike Krzyzewski has an interesting challenge ahead of him with Williamson being out with this injury. Williamson is a once in a generation type of athlete that you don’t replace completely. However, with players like Barrett, Jones, Reddish, and Marquise Bolden there is plenty of talent available to win a ton of games. The key is going to be how these guys respond in adverse situations until Williamson returns as it will be a great opportunity to show the nation what the 2018-19 edition of this Blue Devils team are truly about. And this won't be the last of the critical NCAA basketball news to hit prior to the conclusion of the season.
