Ryan Kelly......Back Like He Never Left!!!!
Since Ryan Kelly left the line up, the Blue Devils have it a few bumps in the road after a flawless start to the season which included a tough early season schedule. Duke picked up some super impressive wins over Louisville, Ohio State and Kentucky among others. Since Ryan Kelly, Duke's 6-11 senior forward, has gone down with a foot injury, Duke has lost 4 conference games, and only squeaked by in a few other conference match-ups, which was unexpected....or was it?? how much better is Duke with Kelly vs. without him? Could that be the biggest reason for the losses to N.C. State, Maryland, Virginia and Miami?? Well I heard many sports analyst marvel at Miami's 20 plus point thrashing of Duke and even throw in that it would've happened anyway, even with Kelly in the line up....They were soooo convinced.
Well to many's surprise, in Saturday night's rematch with the mighty Hurricanes, Ryan Kelly was not just suited up, but was ready to play and oh boy, did he! Ryan Kelly had maybe the most impressive return of any college athlete, in a single game, after an extensive layoff. Kelly was aggressive and confident, putting up an overwhelming 36pts and 7 reb including 7-9 from 3pt range!!! Unreal after missing 13 straight games!!!! The Cameron Crazies exploded with every dagger the Kelly unloaded on the Miami Hurricanes last night. In the midst of the the heroics, Kelly had to run off to the locker room to readjust tape on the injured foot, then ran back out and picked up where he left off. Realistically, who's to say that with Kelly never being injured, that the Blue Devils might not be a clear cut #1 with maybe 1 or no losses?? Ryan Kelly isn't that big of a difference for coach K is he, you might ask? Sure he is.
Ryan Kelly is a 6-11 frame with a decent post game, length and inside defensive presence but what makes him such a problem for opposing teams is that he, at that size, can knock down the long range bomb. What does that do to opposing defenses???? It forces them to have a player big enough to match-up in the post but also agile and skilled enough to guard Kelly on the perimeter. Ryan Kelly stretches defenses, not by just being a long range shooter but a tall long range shooter, among a host of above average shooting guards and a really good post player in Mason Plumee. That can stretch any apposing defense and makes Duke a totally different offensive team. Of course defensively, Ryan Kelly takes a huge pressure of Mason Plumlee by having another long, experienced defender to protect the basket. Yes Duke has Amil Jefferson off of the bench and he is going to be a special player for Duke but is still young and plays aggressive, inexperienced defense which leads to foul trouble often times. Kelly is a solid defender whose length causes a degree of difficulty in the lane. Remember class two7 footers who can play together at 1 time is better than one.....any day of the week!
Hands down Ryan Kelly displayed incredible heart in his performance last night, lifting his team past a Miami squad that had handed them one of its worst losses under coach K. This will be one of those story lines to remember from this college basketball season.
Moral of the story??? Duke is still undefeated when at full strength....Coach K doesn't want the Duke haters to get it confused!
If you missed it, re-live it HERE!!!
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:9009255
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