Duke Look Ahead 1/29/2022

                Stats were gathered using teamrankings.com, foxsports.com, evanmiya.com. Stats with parenthesis are the team’s national rank in this statistic. Evan Miya OBPR is a offensive efficiency statistic that predicts future outcomes. Evan Miya DBPR is a defensive efficiency statistic that predicts future outcomes. Evan Miya BPR combines OBPR and DBPR together.

To say these past couple days has been a roller coaster is an understatement to say the least. Everyone has had their opinions, but I did not think he would be leaving like he did. There is a lot of opinions to be had with that, but I want to preview the Duke game tomorrow. I’ll give you my concerns below.

The YUM Center should have a similar showing as the Russ Smith jersey retirement since the fan base is known to support teams that go through similar situations. I have my reservations about this and wish Louisville wasn’t playing a team like Duke for this game. Duke is by far the best team Louisville will play all season. They are very efficient with the basketball and can score at all levels. They can stretch the entire floor and will be a challenge for Louisville to slow down. This is a big Duke team that will look to play 1 guard and 4 forwards more than likely with Keels being questionable for tomorrow’s game. The one surprising part of this Duke team is they only have a rebound differential of 3.6 which surprises me. This may be similar to Louisville’s struggles when Malik plays at the top of the key since Banchero does this, but obviously a lot better. Fans will get to see at the very least tomorrow afternoon.

Paolo Banchero is the most notable player on this Duke team. He is a 6’10 freshman that can do it all for Duke. Banchero averages over 17 points and 7 rebounds a game and will be a nightmare for Louisville to man up with when Mark Williams plays the five. My guess is that Louisville will play Williams or Withers to help out, but I expect a big game from Banchero. Mark Williams is someone most will remember having a dominant performance against Louisville last year. Williams averages over 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks a game. Mark Williams is a monster and I truly hope Curry matches up against him and plays the majority of the minutes. Malik has had trouble with most big men in the ACC and I expect the same as last year if he matches up against him. Wendell Moore is have a standout year that Duke fans have been waiting for. Moore is averaging 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assist a game this year. Moore shoots 42% from 3 point and can score at different levels. Duke has three players who shoot over 40% from three point, which are Wendell Moore, AJ Griffin, and Joey Baker.

Louisville will have some momentum coming into this game with Mack’s parting, but I will be curious what this team will look like. I predict that Sydney Curry will get more minutes than Malik Williams. Curry started over Williams in the regular season opener , while this was more than likely rewarding him his playing in practice with only playing 13 minutes, I tend to think there was something to this. Mike Pegues’s opinion will show of what he thinks of this team today and I have no clue what will happen. What I want is less substitutions and Louisville playing the majority of the game in a zone defense.

I have hope sadly that Louisville could pull a crazy win with sheer momentum, but I don’t think its likely. Duke has played some close games lately, but they can expose some holes this team has easily. I expect a hot start then a dose of reality quick for Louisville. I’m predicting a 82-61 loss for the Cards. I’ll be up top buzzing.

-degenerateCARD

Stats via teamrankings.com, foxsports.com, evanmiya.com, espn.com