Tre Jones Update

If you watched the Duke-Central Arkansas game no doubt your stomach sank a bit when Tre Jones and CAU’s Aaron Weidenaar had a collision that left Jones stretched out on the floor and barely moving for several minutes.

It really looked quite serious. Fortunately it wasn’t.

Coach K said after the game that he’ll be fine and will play Friday.

Krzyzewski said he asked Jones if he knew who he was talking to and Jones said “Michael,” which Coach K said “was kind of bold on his part.”

Aside from the obvious reasons we’re glad that he’s okay, we’re increasingly taken with the influence he’s having on his team. Both defense and passing are contagious and Jones is turning Duke into an extraordinary team of ball handlers. When he went out, the Bears had 11 turnovers and just three made shots.

Duke naturally let up in the second half - the game was long decided - and we don’t know how the Blue Devils would have played if he hadn’t gone out.

The defensive potential of this team though is just off the charts. It reminds us slightly of the 1987 team which for part of the year looked as if it might be better than the 1986 team. Injuries and a lack of experience made that difficult but that team was incredible defensively, partly due to another pit bull point guard in Tommy Amaker.