Should Duke be nervous after 'cakewalk' turns into near nightmare against No. 16 Siena?
While Duke's nonchalance likely played a role in its struggles, that wasn't the only reason the Blue Devils had to stage a furious rally to escape an inferior opponent.
Maliq Brown was delightfully candid with CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson when asked to explain how the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 overall seed trailed 16th-seeded Siena by 11 points at halftime. The Duke forward said that the Blue Devils were “nervous” playing on an NCAA tournament stage for the first time.
Then Brown admitted that Duke also may have entered Thursday’s game overlooking a little-known opponent. “We thought it was going to be a cakewalk,” Brown told Wolfson. The lingering question after Duke’s come-from-behind 71-65 first-round victory is whether that’s all that was wrong with the Blue Devils.
Did this loss expose flaws that could bite Duke against stronger opponents? Or was this just an early-round wakeup call? Yahoo Fantasy Women’s Bracket Mayhem: Make your picks for $50K in total prizes The answer, as so often is the case, is somewhere in between.
While Duke’s nonchalance likely played a role in its struggles, that wasn’t the only reason that the Blue Devils had to stage a furious rally to escape an inferior opponent. As Duke showed in the ACC tournament, it can still win while missing two starters, but the Blue Devils’ margin for error is no longer so high without Patrick Ngongba and Caleb Foster. They’re vulnerable against opponents who can pack the paint and tempt them to shoot over the top.
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