Playbook: Wake Forest vs Duke

The Deacs fell to 8-12 overall and 1-7 in the ACC on Tuesday night after a 70-84 loss to the 5th ranked Duke Blue Devils. While there were certainly plenty of negatives in this game (21 turnovers, 28 fouls, 25% shooting from beyond the arc), I will once again choose to focus on the positive aspect: Doral Moore. Moore played one of his better games as a Deac, finishing with 18 points on 9-9 shooting and 12 rebounds. He also continued to show drastic improvement in his offensive game. Let’s take a look.

I’m sure you are all aware that Doral has been a great dunker his whole career at Wake Forest. His ability to throw down alley oops and rebounds for electrifying dunks continues to be fantastic.

But against Duke, Doral showcased his ability to score in ways other than dunking (even though he did have 5 dunks).

This basket caught me completely off guard. I was definitely not expecting Moore to attempt a 15 foot jump shot, and I absolutely did not expect him to drain it. But Moore catches the ball and without hesitation lets it go with confidence. If he can improve his range and consistently hit that shot, good luck to anyone trying to guard him.

This is what I love seeing from Doral Moore. Get the offensive rebound, dribble once to get to your spot, and put the ball up high and into the basket. Easy 2 points. Doral’s touch around the rim has certainly improved greatly.

This clip, to me, really shows the full range of Doral’s development. He gets the offensive rebound. He looks out to the wing to see if anyone is open. He throws in a couple of ball fakes. He’s not in a hurry and looks totally comfortable with the ball in his hands. He dribbles once to the left, spins back right, goes up over his left shoulder, and kisses it off the glass. It’s just a beautiful sequence of events that ends in 2 points for the Deacs.

Hopefully we will continue to see this and more from Doral as he continues to improve and develop as a player.