How do you take down Duke? We asked some coaches and scouts for intel

Dukeis the story in college basketball this season. The Blue Devils are always a key storyline, but this year is different. They have three of the best NBA prospects in the country (and the likely top two picks in June's NBA draft), one of the greatest coaches of all time and former five-star prospects who have bought into smaller roles to help the team win.

They're No. 1 in the polls, they're the most efficient team in the country, and they're the favorite to win the national championship.

What makes them go? What could potentially derail them? What do opposing coaches notice the most when watching them? We spoke with a number of coaches and scouts to dig deeper into this season's Blue Devils.

Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett

The two biggest stars in college basketball this season are Williamson and Barrett. They entered college as arguably the two best prospects in the 2018 high school class, and they're likely this year's first two draft picks.

Williamson and Barrett combine to average 43.6 points, 16.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists -- and they are the focus of every single opposing scouting report.

"Zion's just Zion," one opposing coach said. "You could do this for 30 years and you'll never play against someone as unique as he is."

"I don't think it's hyperbole: I've never seen anyone that big who moved like that," another coach said. "It's a rarefied air. The sheer combination of size and athleticism is just freaky. There're a couple plays where it's a man playing among boys. On top of that, how hard he plays. He impacts the game just so often at such a high rate, it jumps out to you. Size, athleticism, motor; he just impacts the game every single possession."

Meanwhile, Barrett has gone from the No. 1 recruit and the No. 1 draft pick to being overshadowed slightly by Williamson. With that said, he's by far the highest usage player on the team and one of the highest usage players nationally.

"Everyone talks about Zion in transition, but RJ Barrett is just as scary, in my mind," an opposing coach said. "He's really efficient. He's attacking downhill. ... Barrett's the guy that's going to kill you in transition. He's attempted 78 shots in transition this year. You're talking six, seven times a game he's getting a shot in transition, and that's going to kill you. He dribbles down your throat and gets to the rim. Or he'll spot-up off Tre [Jones], or he'll make the right play."

Both players prefer to have the ball in the middle of the floor, and both utilize a spin move to beat their defender off the dribble. Opponents have seen that both players have a tendency to drive into traffic, though, and will force the ball at times -- resulting in charges, turnovers or bad shots.

In particular, Barrett struggled down the stretch against Gonzaga, and he has had some other high-volume outings that weren't overly efficient.

"RJ is going to take bad shots, he's going to play hero ball," one NBA scout said.

The supporting cast

Entering the season, it was a "big three" at the top of the roster: Williamson, Barrett and Cam Reddish. Reddish was another elite recruit and likely top-five pick, but he has taken a backseat to his two classmates. In his past four games, he's averaging just 8.0 points and shooting 23.8 percent from the field.

What Reddish does provide, however, is someone who can stretch the defense. He has made and attempted the most 3-pointers on the team, and is still shooting 35.6 percent from behind the arc despite the recent shooting slump.

"Cam kinda does one thing right now and it's shooting [3-pointers]," an opposing coach said. "What makes Duke different is their shooter is 6-foot-8, 220 pounds, and is going in the lottery. He just wows you with that. He really hasn't shown much beyond being that floor-spacer. He's never made 2-pointers at a high rate, even back in EYBL play. Only 21 percent of his shots are coming at the rim. He's not a guy who drives the ball with force. He's got a good stroke and that's the role he plays on the team."

Perhaps the player who has surprised coaches and scouts the most since the start of the season is freshman point guard Tre Jones. A former five-star recruit, Jones has been happy to play facilitator for his three standout teammates.

So far this season, Jones has totaled 67 assists and just 13 turnovers, while also racking up 24 steals in a lockdown defender role. He was terrific in Duke's comeback win against Texas Tech, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds, five assists and six steals.

"He's the glue," one opposing coach said. "He's not the best player, but he may be the most valuable. He makes them go. He guards. He makes sure guys get the ball. He's the conductor of the orchestra."

"Tre is just so undervalued," an NBA executive said. "Most young guys on defense, when a screen is set, when they hit contact, they bounce off and it is what it is, they're done. They die on the screen. He's mature, he's very mature defensively. It's impressive. He's perfect for them. He keeps everyone happy. He doesn't have to get his own. And he's going to play defense. He's not a liability out there. We can debate whether he's a first-round pick, but at the end of the day, he does a hell of a job playing his role and he makes guys better. He makes the team better."

Everyone else can be classified as a role player, but they all excel in their own way. Jack White is a glue guy who hits corner 3s; Marques Bolden is a high-level shot-blocker and offensive rebounder; Javin DeLaurier shoots 89.3 percent from the field; and Alex O'Connell provides some perimeter shooting.

Barrett, Williamson and Reddish being such high-usage players comes as a result of the rest of the players accepting their roles.

"They play much harder than they did a year ago," said one coach who scouted them. "Their pieces fit better, there's a lot better chemistry. There's great chemistry with those guys on the court. They share the ball, they seem to be more free-flowing, enjoying playing with one another."

Transition

Coaches who have faced Duke emphasize the Blue Devils' transition ability as their biggest weapon outside of the pure natural ability of their players.

Duke ranks No. 2 nationally in block percentage and No. 1 in steal percentage, and both lead to fast-break opportunities for the Blue Devils. When they can get out and run, they're nearly unstoppable thanks to the athleticism of Williamson and Barrett.

"They're the best I've seen in awhile at that," one coach said. "It's like a buzzer goes off."

"Film doesn't do it justice," another coach added. "They advance the ball up the court, they share the ball, they run their asses off. They're great athletes, they run as hard as they can every time. And they're elite finishers. They don't miss layups."

Against Texas Tech, Duke forced 24 turnovers leading to 21 points. Against Indiana, it was 24 points off 20 turnovers. Gonzaga coughed it up just 11 times in the Bulldogs' win over Duke.

"The pick-six turnovers are what kills you," an opposing coach said. "They could get 18-20 points in pick-six turnovers. It's such a momentum-changer. It's so much momentum for them and it's so deflating for you."

What scares coaches the most about Duke's transition ability is how aggressive the Blue Devils are once they get a numbers advantage. They don't get blocks and steals and then slow things down to run offense. Even if it's one-on-five or even numbers, Barrett and Williamson aren't waiting for teammates to catch up to them.

"They're not going to pull it out and look at the coach," one coach said. "They don't do that. Every player scores in transition."

How to beat them

The consensus on how to beat Duke revolved around a few key items.

First, limit turnovers -- especially live-ball turnovers. We hit on that earlier, but it leads to the second big point: Force Duke to play in the half-court. Texas Tech slowed down the tempo and made the Blue Devils score against a set defense. When the Red Raiders were able to get back and get settled, Duke really struggled for most of the game.

Once in the half-court, most opposing coaches and pro scouts focused on keeping Barrett and Williamson out of the lane and making other players beat you.

"Cam can go for 40 one game, but I'd rather take that chance," an NBA scout said.

"You can't take away all three, you have to give them something," one opposing coach added.

Teams also have to keep Duke off the offensive glass and limit their second-chance opportunities. The Blue Devils rank No. 4 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, with Williamson ranking No. 25 and Bolden also ranking in the top 125 nationally. Duke struggled to make shots against Gonzaga in the November loss and the Bulldogs took care of the ball, but the Blue Devils grabbed 22 offensive rebounds to continually get extra possessions.

"Limit your turnovers and limit second-chance points," one opposing coach said. "You're not going to pitch a shutout, but if you do do a decent job in those two areas, you have a chance against them."

Duke isn't a great perimeter shooting team. As a group, the Blue Devils make just 32.4 percent of their 3-point attempts, which ranks in the bottom 125 nationally. No one in their rotation makes better than 38 percent of their shots from behind the arc, and O'Connell and White are currently their best shooters. Williamson, Jones and Bolden have made a combined 10 3-pointers this season.

As a result, teams going zone against Duke is an option we could see moving forward.

"They haven't proven they can shoot," an NBA scout said. "Maybe RJ can shoot it a little bit, but he takes a lot of bad shots. Someone needs to go zone against them. Every time, RJ is going by you. Make Zion shoot. Right now, teams are letting these guys play to their strengths. Why are you allowing them to get their shots, play their games?"

One opposing coach who played them earlier this season made an interesting point about why Duke's offense looks different when Barrett has the ball as opposed to when Williamson has the ball. When Williamson has the ball at the top, he has a very good shooter in Reddish, a capable shooter in Barrett, a dunker in Bolden, and then Jones. However, the court shrinks when Barrett has the ball at the top of the key, since teams can help off Williamson, Bolden and Jones, to a certain extent.

"When Virginia walks into Cameron and they shrink the court and fill in gaps, does Duke have enough space to let their talent operate?" the coach said. "The floor is very different when Zion has the ball than when RJ Barrett has the ball. If Zion doesn't have the ball, can defenses sit in their gaps and clog them up?"

Keeping it simple

One coach said that Texas Tech might have given the ACC the blueprint on how to beat Duke -- even though the Red Raiders lost by 11. But there aren't many teams disciplined enough to slow the pace, to limit second-chance opportunities and to force the Blue Devils play in the half court.

And at the end of the day, the thing about this season's Duke team is how good individually they are. Mike Krzyzewski isn't drawing up dozens of sets and actions for them; he's rolling out three of the best players in the country and a first-round point guard and overwhelming teams.

"If you have a 99-mile-per-hour fastball, you just keep throwing it. You don't need the other stuff," one opposing coach said. "Coach K has the 99-mile-per-hour fastball; he doesn't need a change-up. They don't run a ton of stuff. They play simple, they get in transition. The players are more important than the stuff they're running. If you can't guard one-on-one, you don't have a chance to win."

"It's one-on-one basketball; our players are better than yours," another coach added.

It's going to take a massive effort to beat Duke come March, but we've seen that it can be done. But if it does happen, it's likely going to simply come down to one team's players outplaying the Blue Devils from an individual standpoint.

As one coach said: "They basically line up against you and say, 'We're better. We've got three of the top five picks and you don't.'"