DURHAM, N.C. — So many unknowns surround Duke basketball as the program embarks on the long-planned — but still uncertain — time after Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski's retirement. Jon Scheyer has known since late May 2021 he'd be the Blue Devils head coach when they opened this season without Coach K.
Well, it's time to open the season. Duke will host Jacksonville at Cameron Indoor Stadium in its first regular-season game of 2022-23 on Monday night.
With only one player on the roster who has started a game for Duke at Cameron, Scheyer is aiming toward an old reliable aspect of the Blue Devils' game to build the foundation of his program.
"For me to sit here and say I know exactly who we are without playing a game with our new group," Scheyer said Friday, "I'd be lying to you. But we have started to develop an identity of being defensive minded, really together."
If this Duke team can play defense like the slap-the-floor Blue Devils of old, that would certainly be a great place for Scheyer to start.
Since the team's summer workouts, Scheyer's been intentional about making that come true.
"For coach Scheyer, defense has been a staple this season," Duke junior guard Jeremy Roach said. "I mean, for us it's always been a staple, but we've really been harping on defense this year just to shut guys down. Just to shut their main players down."
This edition of the Blue Devils has two experiences playing against outside competition — an Oct. 29 closed scrimmage at No. 3 Houston, and Wednesday night's 82-45 exhibition win over Division II Fayetteville State at Cameron.
The talented Cougars shot 54% from the field in outscoring Duke 61-50 in the team's 32-minute scrimmage. Fayetteville State shot 31.1% from the field, while making only 5 of 17 3-pointers against Duke.
The small sample size shows a mixed bag.
It also must be noted that Duke played without two freshmen who are expected to be starters in 6-6 forward Dariq Whitehead and 7-1 center Dereck Lively.
Whitehead, recovering from a fractured right foot, will not play against Jacksonville, and perhaps not until three or four games into the season.
Lively, slowed by a strained calf muscle, had yet to play 5-on-5 in practice as of Friday. Scheyer said a decision would be made Monday if Lively would play in the opener. Either way, he's expected back before Whitehead.
Lively's size makes him a key player in Duke's defensive plans, since he's athletic enough to be a rim protector and step out to the perimeter and guard ball handlers so the Blue Devils can utilize a switching man-to-man defense.
With Lively out, 6-10 graduate transfer Ryan Young started at center in the scrimmage and exhibition. Intriguing freshman Mark Mitchell, a 6-8 forward, was also in the starting lineup.
Mitchell's quickness and length give him the potential to be a defensive stopper for the Blue Devils.
Roach noticed that about Mitchell in July.
"I was like, yeah, he can do a lot of different stuff," Roach said. "He was switching on to the ones, the guards, keeping them in front of him. Then he'd switch onto the threes, or fours and fives. I mean, he's just so versatile."
Late in the first half against Fayetteville State, Scheyer tried something different by putting Mitchell at the 5 slot on defense. The freshman, whose nickname is "Easy" for his attitude, admitted he'd never played that position.
"I kind of threw him in the fire a little bit," Scheyer said. "I know 'Easy' might not have felt like that was easy. But I do think he can play that position. It's not about playing the five but he can guard the five. Sometimes you get in games with foul trouble, things can happen. He's a guy that, he can be out there with anybody."
Though Young and Mitchell manned the starting spots on the interior in the exhibition, Scheyer said he's still working through different combinations. His thinking will change further when Lively and Whitehead return.
But that's OK. He's a first-time head coach coaching the first games of his career. Facing off against Jacksonville on Monday and South Carolina-Upstate on Friday is part of the process to turn those unknowns, into knowns.
