Duke might have solved one of their biggest problems! After an upset loss to Clemson, the Blue Devils bounced back with a new found vigor. Their last three games have been dominant victories, and Cooper Flagg has maintained his excellence. However, Duke is beginning to find its rhythm outside of the star as well. In the last few games, some of the players have really stepped up and shown their potential.

On the show The Drive with Tim Donnelly, the host talks about Duke and their recent rising stars. He talked about their victory against Stanford, a brilliant and efficient team effort. “There are three players that stood out to me in the game. Tyrese Proctor, Khaman Maluach, and Caleb Foster. I know we can talk all we want about Cooper Flagg, and all that, but there’s a time and place for all that.”

Tyrese Proctor was the only person in that game to score over twenty points, which was a surprise given that Duke put up 106. His shooting is a big contributor for Duke, as he is averaging more than 48% from the three. There is good, and there’s very good, and Proctor is very good right now.

“This guy is on fire for Duke right now.” Donnelly agreed. “He’s averaging, over the last five games, 19.4ppg.  Shooting 53.8% from the floor on 13 field goal attempts per game.” Showing that the volume in which he achieved these percentages was very high. They weren’t cherry-picked at all.

Maluach, the seven-foot-two center, put up 17 points and 6 rebounds on 88% from the field. His looming presence restricted the Cardinals to scoring only 16 points inside the paint as compared to Duke’s 42. A big offense burst came from Caleb Foster who scored ten points in six minutes off the bench. His two threes were crucial for Duke to crush Stanford.

The way these players are performing, the Blue Devils can definitely make a title run this year. It will be their first championship in a decade, the last one coming in 2015 with Tyus Jones taking home MOP. Flagg is always going to be there, but to have others step up is a boon for Scheyer and Duke. Their play style definitely drew concern from analysts and fans alike. For good reason, too.

Is Duke free of its Cooper Flagg dependency?

Duke depends on Cooper Flagg. It is a simple, irrefutable fact. Whenever the six-foot-nine forward plays well, his team does well too. On the contrary, the loss against Clemson was primarily due to the Tigers restricting Flagg. They forced mismatches, and took great advantage of the forward’s lack of post play.

However, with how Proctor and Kneuppel are playing, Duke seems to be shaking itself free of this problem. The two shooters provide an immense amount of spacing for the Blue Devils and Flagg, and are taking on the onus of scoring heavily. Kneuppel averages 13.2 ppg near 38% from deep, and Proctor averages 12 ppg while touching 42% from three.

With the two of them being perimeter threats, the game becomes a lot easier for Flagg. Help defense is less prominent, double-teams often lead to buckets, and having shooters around him gives him confidence.

Cooper Flagg is a great player, maybe the greatest college player right now, but the Duke offense needs to flow without him as well. Players like Kon Kneuppel, Tyrese Proctor, and Caleb Foster provide much-needed depth to Jon Scheyer‘s team. It will be interesting to see whether Duke can break their decade long curse, though. Last time, they had stars like Jahlil Okafor, Quinn Cook, and Tyus Jones to carry the Blue Devils to the promised land. What do you think? Can Jon Scheyer win the national title this year? Will Cooper Flagg win MOP? Only time will tell.