Jay Williams makes lofty comparison for Duke on defensive end of the floor
No. 6 Duke stormed out to a 46-37 halftime lead against No. 19 Kentucky on Tuesday night in the State Farm Champions Classic, and the Blue Devils did enough to impress a former alumnus.
In fact, impress probably isn’t a strong enough word.
Jay Williams chimed in at halftime of the contest and had effusive praise for Jon Scheyer‘s squad in his third season in charge now.
“I’m going to say this, I never thought I would say this about a Duke team, and this is talking about the last two teams that have won championships there — 2015, 2010,” Williams said in studio at halftime. “This is the most talented and the most depth of a Duke team that I’ve seen since our class of 2001.”
The star power is obvious. Despite losing big man Kyle Filipowski, Duke has reloaded with the likes of Cooper Flagg, arguably the biggest attraction in the sport this season.
Flagg had a team-leading 12 points at halftime. He was joined in that scoring effort by guard Tyrese Proctor, who chipped in 10 points and figures to provide some real veteran leadership in the backcourt.
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But it wasn’t the scoring effort for Duke that impressed Williams, despite hanging 46 in the first half.
“I mean talent-wise they throw numbers at you and defensively it feels like Duke is back to its old ways,” Williams said. “Even with RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson, they played a lot of zone back in that time. They’re playing man-to-man and they’re so disruptive with their defense it feels like an old Duke team with the way they establish pressure. I haven’t thought I would say that for a long time about a Duke basketball team.”
At the half, Duke was holding Kentucky to just 11-of-30 shooting (37%) from the floor. The 3-point defense needed a little work, with the Wildcats going 7-of-16 from beyond the arc (44%) to stay in the contest.
However, the sheer effort and intensity level on the defensive side of the ball had Williams — a 2001 NCAA champion — raving about what could be this year for the Blue Devils.