Fansided

Duke is downed by Boston College: 3 takeaways from the upset

By Joseph Nardone

BLOOMINGTON, IN - NOVEMBER 29: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils is seen before the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall on November 29, 2017 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - NOVEMBER 29: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils is seen before the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall on November 29, 2017 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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PORTLAND, OR – NOVEMBER 24: Gary Trent Jr
PORTLAND, OR – NOVEMBER 24: Gary Trent Jr /

Gary Trent Jr. A Real Fifth-Option

Eyes are forever going to be on Duke’s core of supposed stars; Bagley, Allen, Carter and Duval. However, it was Gary Trent Jr. who looked like the superstar in a Blue Devils uniform on Saturday.

With Bagley playing well, but just not getting enough shots up, Trent kept Duke in the game, pacing the Blue Devils with 25 points on 7-15 shooting from the floor and making 6-13 from the realm of 3.

This is the same Gary Trent Jr. who entered the game shooting a mind-boggling awful 37 percent from the floor and an only fine-ish 33 percent from 3.

We know — or, we at least think we know — what Duke has in Bagley, Allen, Carter and Duval. Each guy has a flaw here and there (example: Duval is a god awful shooter), but each brings something incredibly important to the player. They are the supposed knowns.

Trent wasn’t.

Maybe he still isn’t, but if you are looking for the silver lining in this otherwise gloomy cloud, it is that Duke can be competitive with its known core-four being a bit all over the place because Trent is capable.

Not great, but capable.

Trent probably won’t be consistently capable of playing in such an offensively prolific way. That’s fine. That’s not the bigger picture here. It’s that teams now have to show him more respect. In turn, it should take pressure off Coach K’s stars.

Also, it lends credence to the idea that if a game like this is to ever happen again, Duke has a legit fifth-option.

Seriously. Think about it. Duke’s fifth-bleeping-option scored 25-bleeping-points.

To put it more bluntly: Duke has five realistic offensive options. There are teams in the country who don’t have one.