A Close Look in at Luke Kennard - The Master of the Triple Threat
As a Rhode Island and a Duke men's basketball fan, being at the HOF Tip-Off tournament at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT was quite the experience for me. The winner of the game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Rhode Island Rams was set to take on the nation's #1 basketball team, the Duke Blue Devils. Even without a win over Duke, the winning team would reap the benefits with their RPI, strength of schedule, and KenPom ratings as a result of facing off against the Blue Devils. Duke entered the championship game with an injured Grayson Allen, the consensus pre-season Player of the Year favorite and a team without the services of their three five-star recruits in the 2016 class, Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, and Marquise Bolden. Now was the time to strike. At least, it appeared to be the time to strike.
After defeating the Bearcats, Rhode Island got their opportunity against Duke and they did not make the most of it. While the loss was not due to a lack of effort, the game was more about how Duke won the game then how URI lost the title game. With the team wearing their home blue-and-white uniforms, Luke Kennard and Amile Jefferson carried their team to the win. While Jefferson picked up all of his points off rebounds and outmuscling smaller defenders, Kennard was the impressive spectacle. Plain and simple, the heralded wing from Franklin, Ohio put on a show. Essentially, he destroyed every defender that tried to guard him, using his accurate 3 point shot to accrue game-high 24 points. Just ask Kuran Iverson, who was shockingly benched by Coach Hurley in the second half due to his inability to defend Kennard effectively. While his 24 points were impressive, it was the way that he scored all of his points that was impressive. I watched all 24 points from the second level of the Mohegan Sun Arena be scored as a result of the way the shooting guard uses the triple threat position.
Since then, he continued his tear offensively and carries his team for stretches of the season. When you have three players with the caliber of Giles, Tatum, and Bolden all sitting in tracksuits on the bench, you better have someone to step up. Fortunately for Coach K and the Duke Blue Devils, they had Luke Kennard taking games over. If you did not get to see Kennard's 34 points and his game-winning three-point jumper at Wake Forest, you did yourself a disservice during the 2016-2017 season. The Ohio native is a consistent 20-point scorer and especially, in big games. In the epic battles within the state of North Carolina, Luke Kennard scored 20 points, 28 points, and 20 points in three separate contests against the Tar Heels. If you watched a couple of Duke games over the course of the season, there is no need to explain how Kennard improves his points per game from 11.8 to 19.5 from his freshman year to his sophomore year. In addition, he improved his field goal percentage from 42.1% to 48.9% and his three-point shooting percentage from 32% to 43.8%.
As clearly demonstrated in the title, I need to discuss this man's use of the triple threat. He is not the first or the last college basketball to use the offensive positioning but he is one of the best in the entire world to use it. Kennard's use of the triple threat position is potentially the most unique thing in college basketball that is not widely spoken about. In terms of timing, Luke Kennard uses the triple threat habitually throughout all of his games and with precise intuition. Once he is in the triple threat, he can kill the opposing team with his jump shot, swing the ball to one of his capable teammates, or drive to the hoop. As a defender, have fun picking which option you want to try to take away. The major difference between many college basketball players who attempt to use the triple threat position and Kennard is that the Blue Devil player is more than capable of making winning plays with each part that makes up the positioning. Thus, Luke Kennard is a master of the triple threat and a consensus second team All-American.
Looking towards the NBA, Kennard is one of those players that does not necessarily fit into one position and for good reason. He can dribble like a guard and yet he can use his size and strength like a frontcourt player. In the NBA Draft, you need to have anything on your resume that makes you a more attractive pick. With the development of basketball players, it is important to be multi-dimensional and fit as many positions as possible. Whether Kennard had declared for the draft after his freshman season or now, I do not see a world in which he would not be selected among 60 picks.
In his two seasons at Cameron Indoor Stadium and all around the nation, Luke Kennard has shown that he is a prolific scorer and it is directly related to his mastery of the triple threat position.
