Last season, the Duke Blue Devils looked like a team that was going to compete for a national championship. In the regular season, Duke suffered just two losses as they cruised to an Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title and tournament title.
They earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament backed behind their impressive play both on offense and defense. Duke was fantastic scoring the ball but also did a heck of a job defensively.
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While they lost in disappointing fashion to UConn, Duke has set their sights on getting over the hump in the Jon Scheyer era. And as they go into this season, they are expected to have another top defense.
CBS Sports’ Isaac Trotter wrote his 101 thoughts for the upcoming season as we are under 100 days until the start. In the article, he names the teams that should have the best defense in college basketball.
That includes Duke.
Here is what Trotter said about Duke’s defense:
Scheyer has a ton of competitive guys who really care about getting stops. Boozer and Foster are both reliable lead guard stoppers. Dame Sarr is one of the best wing defenders in the country. Big man Patrick Ngongba has high feel on the defensive end of the floor and can sniff out actions before they happen. Belmont transfer Drew Scharnowski will help out on that end with his physicality, rebounding and athleticism. That core is more than enough to build a solid foundation. It’s going to be hard to generate easy shots against Duke’s size and length, especially when Sarr, Foster, Boozer and Ngongba are on the floor together.
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While Duke lost important pieces on the defensive end like Cameron Boozer and Maliq Brown, they do return Patrick Ngongba, Caleb Foster, and Dame Sarr. They also added Drew Scharnowski and John Blackwell through the transfer portal.
Duke’s size will be a plus for them, especially on the perimeter. But in the paint, Duke has depth in terms of big men. With the combination of a really good offense and this expected defense, the Blue Devils should be a contender once again.
