Elite point guard play and center foul trouble loom large as Duke eyes championship glory. Can they overcome these hurdles?
No. 3 Duke is a lock to make the NCAA Tournament with a 23-2 record in mid-February.
The Blue Devil's two losses came to Texas Tech (which would have had a chance to be a championship contender before losing JT Toppin for the season) and rival North Carolina.
On Saturday, Duke will have a chance to prepare for the NCAA Tournament when they play No. 1 Michigan at Capital One Arena.
Isaac Trotter of CBS Sports recently published the pros and cons of eight men's basketball teams that have a chance of winning the national championship.
Trotter thinks forward Cameron Boozer and guard Isaiah Evans can generate enough offense to propel a deep tournament run. But he wonders if Cayden Boozer, Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba can do their part.
"Duke's point guard tandem of Cayden Boozer and Caleb Foster aren't on the level of some of the point guards that Duke will have to knock out if it wants to go the distance," Trotter wrote.
"There's this lingering feeling that Duke has to run so many set plays to cover up some of the lack of wiggle in its point guard room."
In the college game, centers can be crucial to a deep tournament run. Blue Devils center Patrick Ngongba has to learn to stay on the court.
"Inside, Ngongba is a good player who could be a late first-round pick, but can he outplay some of the elite centers in America and stay out of foul trouble?" Trotter wrote.
"Duke has a +25.3 net rating against top-100 teams when Ngongba is on the floor. Maliq Brown is a useful backup big man, but Duke is much better on offense and defense when Ngongba isn't saddled with foul trouble."
The Blue Devils will ultimately need Boozer to carry the team to a Final Four appearance. The six-foot-nine, 250-pound freshman is averaging 22.8 points, 10 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 3.9 assists per game.
With that being said, there will be times in the tournament that Cayden, Foster and Ngongba will need to step up to make buckets when defenses try to take away Cameron and Evans.
Michigan might try that on Saturday.