Next up for Duke is ancient rival NC State. The drive from Raleigh is a bit more than the drive from Chapel Hill, but not enough to be a problem. It’s still, as Jim put it, a neighborhood brawl. And State, despite a middling record, is a very dangerous team.
The Pack has three basic issues right now: 1) Manny Bates is out for the year. 2) The rest of the roster is smallish. And 3) It’s a very young team.
Duke has been young for a decade or so, ever since Coach K embraced the whole one-and-done thing, but there’s a big difference between, say, freshman Paolo Banchero and freshman Ernest Ross.