2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Team Previews—Duke Blue Devils
The Duke Blue Devils are perennially one of the most polarizing teams in all of college basketball, and that trend isn’t likely to change in the 2012-13 season. The team is ranked eighth overall in both the preseason AP and USA Today Polls, and they are ready to avenge themselves following a disappointing showing in the NCAA tournament last year.
Odds to Win (By bovada.lv)
2013 NCAA Tournament: 15 to 1
2013 ACC Tournament: 3 to 1
This team is looking for a bounce-back season, and 2013 could have a bit of a different look to it than last year.
Last Year’s Results
Duke’s 2011-12 campaign was typical of what we’ve come to expect out of the Blue Devils. With the exception of their championship run in 2010, the team from Durham, N.C. has been eliminated in their first or second NCAA tournament contests in three of their last six appearances. 2012 was the third, as they lost their first matchup against 15th-seeded Lehigh.
The season wasn’t a bad one for Duke by any means. They went 27-7 on the year, including a 13-3 record in their own conference. The team finished second in the ACC behind North Carolina, but they weren’t able to pull it all together when it mattered most.
Roster Changes
The Blue Devils are going to be without standout star Austin Rivers this season, but that might not be the worst thing for head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has become known throughout the years for their selfless brand of team basketball; a style in which Rivers never quite learned how to play. The one-and-done freshmen led the team is points per game, but his assist-to-turnover ratio was awful for someone who had the ball in his hands as often as he did. The team is also going to be without Mason Plumlee, who averaged 6.6 points and 7.1 rebounds.
Aside from the loss of Rivers, the team is set to return its four other starters. The incoming group of freshmen—Rasheed Sulaimon, Amile Jefferson and redshirt freshman Alex Murphy—will add a new defensive dynamic that was lacking on the perimeter last year.
Key Players
This Blue Devils team is going to have three senior leaders in Seth Curry, Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly. These three were the leading scorers behind Rivers last season, and they’ll likely be the top three this time around. However, sophomore point guard Quinn Cook has a legitimate chance to take over a larger scoring role if he can stay healthy.
Off the bench, Tyler Thornton has a chance to make his impact felt on the defensive end. The starting 2-guard will be Cook, who has a more established offensive game, but defensively, Thornton will be the guy who comes in ad changes momentum when the opposing offense is rolling. [ad-6571516]
Key Games
Duke has become known for scheduling well, and this season is going to be no exception. The team starts off against the defending national champion Kentucky Wildcats in their second contest of the year, and then just two weeks later they host the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes.
Once conference play begins, the competition won’t let up, as the North Carolina Tar Heels and North Carolina State Wolfpack will make life difficult. The Tar Heels host the Blue Devils in the final game of the season.
Virtually every game this team plays is going to be on some form of national broadcast, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering how everybody seems to either love or hate this prestigious program.
2013 Prediction
Having such a challenging schedule will either prepare the Blue Devils for a strong tournament run, or it will shut them down early. In this case, expect the team to learn early and grow together as a unit, and make a stronger run in the tournament than last season.
Since 2003, the ACC title hasn’t belonged outright to anybody not named Duke or North Carolina. While North Carolina State is arguably the best team in the conference to begin the year, Duke could keep the trend going by utilizing their senior leadership and coming out atop the conference by the time it’s all said and done.
Another chance at the tournament is essentially a lock, but how well they do is seemingly always up in the air. Expect them to do better than a first-round loss this time around, but a run at anything beyond the Sweet 16 seems unlikely until they prove otherwise.
