INDIANAPOLIS — Duke's former coach wasn't at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to lament that the Blue Devils weren't strong with the ball enough against Kansas in the Champions Classic.
That's fine, because anyone who has watched Duke basketball over the last 40 years and listened to Mike Krzyzewski discuss his team could hear his words echoing in their head watching the Blue Devils commit 18 turnovers while losing 69-64 to the Jayhawks.
Count Jeremy Roach among those who heard it, too.
"We just wanted to be strong with the ball," said Roach, Duke's junior guard and team captain who played for Krzyzewski last season prior to the coach's retirement. "I mean, they got their hands on a couple of them. We turned the ball over and were just kind of careless with the ball."
Too much of that carelessness came during a key stretch of the second half after Duke, having trailed by 11 points in the first half and 33-29 at halftime, had played well and forged a 51-45 lead.
Kansas, as reigning NCAA champion teams are capable of doing, pushed back itself to trail 55-54 with 9:02 to play.
That's when Duke, which often surrounded Roach with four freshmen, began playing like young players on a big stage against a fellow top-10 team for the first time.
Over Duke's next 10 possessions, it failed to score eight times. Four of those possessions ended with a turnover, like Kyle Filipowski being called for an offensive foul or Ryan Young's travel.
With 2:28 to play and Duke up 59-58, Duke freshman forward Mark Mitchell fumbled the ball away. Kansas' Jalen Wilson picked it up and Jayhawks freshman Gradey Dick drilled a 3-pointer to put the Jayhawks in front with 2:22 remaining.
"To be in this environment," Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, "to be in this situation in game three for our group was, I think it's gonna be a big time learning experience. It hurts. That's how it should feel."
For the first time since replacing his mentor, Scheyer has absorbed a coaching loss. But, three games in, here's what we've learned about the Blue Devils (2-1) following the loss to Kansas.
Duke lacks a consistent shooter
The Blue Devils hit only 3 of 21 3-pointers, a woeful 14.3% clip. That stat alone will get most teams beat. Roach scored 16 points but did so with an inefficient 17 shot attempts (hitting six of them). He was 1 of 5 on 3-pointers, although his make with two minutes to play gave Duke its final lead of the game.
Roach hit 32% of his 3-pointers last season and it would be nice for him, and his pro basketball future, to bump that up. He's at 38.9% (7 of 18) following the Kansas game so he is better overall. But hitting 1 of 5 against another top-10 team isn't going to cut it.
Freshman guard Tyrese Proctor is 1 of 10 on 3-pointers this season and reserve forward Jacob Grandison, a 41% 3-point shooter at Illinois last season, is 2 of 12.
Three games does not make a season, of course. But this is worth monitoring because, as a team, Duke's 3-point rate is 28.2%.
"It's just understanding that it's not going to happen easy," Scheyer said. "It's too many. It's not just the turnovers. It's the shot selection. And that's ultimately is on me."
Defense not polished
Duke plays hard on defense and, even against Kansas, showed effective stretches. The Jayhawks, after all, had 15 turnovers and hit just 3 of 19 3-pointers.
When the Blue Devils scuffled while making only 31% in the first half, their ability to force empty Kansas possessions is why they only trailed 33-29 at halftime.
Still there were other things that weren't great, like Kansas scoring 48 of its 69 points in the paint. Or the Jayhawks hitting their final five shots to snatch the lead in the final minutes.
Filipowski can bring it inside
A 7-foot freshman, Filipowski produced 17 points and 14 rebounds. He's the first Duke freshman, in a program renowned for freshman becoming lottery picks, to record three consecutive double-doubles to open his career.
He's still working things out on defense as far as getting in the kind of rhythm that comes with playing more than three games. But his aggressiveness to drive the ball to the rim in half-court sets and fight for rebounds are great signs for Duke going forward.
Fellow freshman big man Dereck Lively, a 7-1 center, played his second game on Tuesday night. He played 20 minutes, five more than his debut game four nights earlier against South Carolina-Upstate, to contribute four points and five rebounds.
As Lively boosts his game shape to play 30 minutes, the idea of he and Filipowski working together will give the Blue Devils two interior players that will be tough to stop.
Duke close to being whole
With Lively back and having played two games following his recovery from a strained calf, Duke continues to await fellow freshman star Dariq Whitehead's debut.
It's drawing close.
Sidelined since fracturing his foot on Aug. 29, Whitehead was in uniform and took part in pregame warmups Tuesday night for the first time this season. That's a sign that he could play soon, though it doesn't look like that will be in Friday night's game with Delaware at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"Probably not Friday, but he's progressing," Scheyer said. "As much as we can get him just back in game shape and playing against contact. He's only done that for one day. He needs more time than that to work back to being himself and getting back in game shape."
Duke plays again next Monday night against Bellarmine at Cameron Indoor Stadium before heading to Portland, Oregon, for the Phil Knight Legacy tournament over Thanksgiving weekend.
Like Lively, the 6-6 Whitehead is expected to enter the NBA draft following this season and is projected to be a lottery pick.
