Will seldom-used Marshall Plumlee's role increase for Duke?
Immediately after capturing his 1,000th victory Sunday against St. John's, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski credited the contributions of reserve center Marshall Plumlee as one the reasons the Blue Devils were able to rally from a 10-point second-half deficit.
"We were getting our butts kicked most of the game," Krzyzewski told FOX's Gus Johnson. "Then all of a sudden we put Marshall Plumlee in. We haven't used that lineup much. And Marshall and [Jahlil Okafor] together, I don't know, there was a spark."
The comments from Krzyzewski raise a few questions. Did the youngest Plumlee brother's entrance into the game merely coincide with Duke's comeback, or was his presence one of the primary causes? And will Duke opt to dabble with playing 7-footers Plumlee and Okafor together more frequently in the future?
To address those questions, I rewatched the final eight minutes of Duke's win and paid close attention to Plumlee at both ends of the floor. What I found was Plumlee's activity, emotion and defensive rebounding were assets that might earn him minutes as a spark off the bench when Duke is lethargic, but he didn't make enough impact to suggest his role will increase dramatically in future games.
St. John's guards Rysheed Jordan and Sir'Dominic Pointer consistently hurt Duke off the dribble prior to the last eight minutes of the game, but Plumlee's presence didn't have a whole lot to do with the Johnnies settling for more jumpers late in the game. It was Okafor who was in the middle of Duke's two-three zone protecting the rim while Plumlee defended the area to the left of the paint.
You can argue Plumlee's length enabled him to contract Duke's zone and still challenge 3-point shooters. You can argue Plumlee's energy inspired his teammates to give maximum effort. You can argue Plumlee's rebounding ensured St. John's did not get second-chance opportunities. But Plumlee had no blocks, was not in the lane to alter shots and really wasn't a major factor in St. John's going 2-for-11 from the field over the final eight minutes of the game.
It's also important to note that St. John's frequently didn't bother to guard Plumlee outside of the paint at the other end of the floor. Plumlee did contribute a key offensive rebound to keep a Duke possession alive in the final four minutes, but he is not as adept at taking advantage of being left free as starting power forward Amile Jefferson is.
Prior to Sunday, Plumlee's primary role this season had been to spell Okafor when he was in foul trouble or needed a rest. He had been averaging 7.0 minutes per game in ACC play and had scored a total of six points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
It's possible there will be games in which Krzyzewski calls on Plumlee for a few more minutes to provide a spark with his activity level, but it's unlikely he'll substantially eat into Jefferson's playing time or play alongside Okafor at crunch time
His contributions Sunday were a nice story. They just weren't a major catalyst in Duke's comeback.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
