How Cassius Stanley went from Coach K’s wrong side to Duke’s hero
With No. 2 Duke in the process of squandering an 11-point halftime lead Wednesday night, Mike Krzyzewski didn’t wait for Cassius Stanley to reach the bench before giving him an earful.
The athletic 6-7 wing was headed toward a poor game and his Blue Devils staring at the real possibility of a loss at Georgia Tech.
“He wasn’t playing aggressively,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s going to have a ‘zero’ stat line.”
A couple of loose balls were available yet Stanley didn’t dive to the court after them. An angered Krzyzewski called a timeout with 16:48 to play, yelling at Stanley before he got to the bench then letting the rest of the Blue Devils share in Stanley’s pain the rest of the timeout.
“I should have dove for a couple of those loose balls,” Stanley said. “I just wasn’t playing as hard as I possibly could and coach, he lit a fire under me.”
That fire had a slow burn. Stanley spent the next five minutes of play on the bench.
By the time he returned, Duke trailed by a point.
The deficit grew to three points, and three more minutes elapsed before Stanley unleashed his fury.
The reaction may have been delayed but the gratification was immense.
Three Stanley dunks, two off lob passes from Tre Jones, ignited the Blue Devils down the stretch in what became a 73-64 Blue Devils win.
“He lifts the whole team,” fellow Duke freshman Vernon Carey said. “Just his energy.”
It was a high-flying performance that helped decide a down-and-dirty game. Each team endured long stretches without points or made shots, the offenses suffocating the other’s defense.
Trash talk flew back and forth, particularly between big men battling down low where Duke’s Carey and Georgia Tech’s James Banks the main belligerents.
Through all the drama, it was Stanley’s athleticism that wowed a sold-out McCamish crowd and turned the game’s tide permanently toward Duke’s side.
“For a freshman, especially, to turn that around in a game — an away game — that’s huge,” Krzyzewski said. “That shows a lot about that kid. He made some sensational plays, some sensational plays. He ran the court a couple times big time.”
Perhaps the most important example came with 8:44 to play and Georgia Tech up 53-50. Duke hadn’t scored since the 14:19 mark, enduring eight consecutive empty possessions.
After a Yellow Jackets miss, the Blue Devils broke out in transition. Spotting Stanley running free toward the basket, Jones sent a pass to the rim where Stanley grabbed the ball, slammed home two points and drew a foul. His free throw tied the game.
A Banks slam dunk put the Yellow Jackets back in front, but Stanley’s dunk after an aggressive drive through the lane tied the game again.
With 6:28 to play, and Georgia Tech up 59-58, Jones fired a pass toward the rim again. This time Stanley grabbed it with one hand and cocked the ball back before a dunk that put Duke back in front.
Though the game was tied one more time, the Blue Devils never trailed again.
“What an incredible athlete,” Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said of Stanley, who finished with 14 points and didn’t commit a turnover in 27 minutes of play.
A year ago, Jones fired passes to his three classmates for highlight-reel plays. Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish became NBA Draft Lottery picks last summer after the four freshmen helped Duke win an ACC championship and go 32-6.
Jones returned to school, finding a new partner for high-flying hoops in Stanley. The two don’t even practice those lob plays much. But you’d never know it from the results.
“I’m just trying to put it in a place no one else can get it,” Jones said. “I mean, he’s really the only person in the country who can get up like that. When he’s running like that and he’s by himself you’ve got to give it to him. There’s no better athlete in the country to do that, to be in that position.”
Even when Stanley messed up by missing the back half of a one-and-bonus free throw, it turned to gold for Duke. Carey rebounded the miss and scored for a 66-62 lead with 3:29 to play.
Yes, on a night when many things went wrong, particularly early in the second half when he drew Krzyzewski’s ire, Stanley showed fortitude and turned it all into something positive — an eighth consecutive win for Duke (14-1, 4-0 ACC).
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "How Cassius Stanley went from Coach K’s wrong side to Duke’s hero."