One night turned valid hype into laughable hyperbole.
Grayson Allen opened the season with back-to-back 26-plus point games and began carving a reputation as Duke’s next superstar, but was quickly derided as just another overrated Blue Devil a few days later, after Kentucky held the sophomore to six points on 2-of-11 shooting and four turnovers Tuesday night.
Maybe the attention was too much. Maybe the size and athleticism of the Wildcats was the secret to overwhelming the still inexperienced guard. Maybe Allen wasn’t yet ready to lead against elite opponents.
Maybe it was what was needed to prove Allen’s ascent is for real.
Following his heavily critiqued outing, Allen opened Friday night’s 2K Classic semifinal game against VCU (2-1) on the bench, but quickly took over in a phenomenal bounce-back effort, scoring a career-high 30 points in a 79-71 win for No. 5 Duke (3-1) at the Garden.
Even after all of Mike Krzyzewski’s years on the sideline, college basketball’s all-time wins leader was impressed with what he had seen from the 20-year-old.
“For him to respond the way he did tonight was terrific,” said Krzyzewski, whose team plays Georgetown in the championship game Sunday. “I think it’s spectacular to be quite frank with it. A lot of kids would’ve questioned themselves and he never did. … He didn’t play well against Kentucky and he didn’t have a good look and he didn’t adjust. That was his first big time start. It’s not like Grayson’s this combat veteran. I was hard on him, but honest.
“He’s a really good player, not as experienced as he’s getting. He wasn’t able to make that adjustment during the Kentucky game, but since then he’s made that adjustment and thank goodness that he did.”
With the memory of his abysmal outing still lingering in nearly every mind of what turned into Cameron Indoor North, the sophomore changed the meaning of the recent nightmare, using his incredible athleticism to find open shots, rather than force any shot he felt he could get off. He hit 4-of-8 from deep and 9-of-15 overall, fearlessly driving into bigger bodies and changing the dynamic of the night, hustling like a hybrid of Shane Battier and Steve Wojciechowski to help overcome VCU’s long-held second-half lead.
After each big shot, his emotion exploded, with Allen treating the moment like he again had unexpectedly turned around a national championship game. This time, though, he was the player the team planned on turning to. Without the top five scorers from last season’s title squad, Allen already has emerged as the new face of the team, meaning taking the well-passed torch as one of the nation’s most despised players.
But the hate couldn’t come without the great performances, particularly the moments no one saw coming.
“There was obviously a rough film session after the Kentucky game,” Allen said. “For me, coming off the bench it was nothing different than if I was starting. It’s the same aggressive mindset, attacking mindset and just bringing energy to the team.
“You make the improvements and you move on.”