On Monday, Nolan Smith was named ACC Player Of The Week. Later that day, the N&O kicked off the annual question: are Duke players getting too many minutes?
This came after Smith and Kyle Singler both played 40 minutes vs. Miami. This probably should have been answered last season when they both pulled heavy minutes straight through, but apparently, that wasn't good enough to prove the point. Nor is the fact that Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins between them could have played 33 more minutes if needed.
Coach K said this in response to the questions:
Thereâs not a player who doesnât want to play. You know what I mean? Thereâs a lot of timeouts, and I pretty much know what to do with guys in practice... Guys donât get worn out with just games. They get worn out by playing the games you play sometimes between games. And youâve just got to be careful with what theyâre doing. Dawkins and Amaker and all those guys, they played a lot of minutes."Makes sense. Playing hard for 40 minutes isn't that big a deal if you manage the rest of the time well, no?