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DURHAM — Just short of two years ago, the ascension of Duke senior Brian Zoubek to the starting lineup triggered an adjustment for Miles Plumlee.
The sting of seeing his starting job disappear was soothed two months later, when Duke won the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball championship.
Today, it’s Plumlee who has about two months left in his Duke career, and that part painful, part joyous experience still stokes his motivation.
“I just want to give my teammates everything I have left,” Plumlee said. “It’s my last go-around. I know when the seniors did that that I’ve played with, we’ve really come together as a team and had some great years. I want them to experience that.”
His teammates, for reasons as equally selfish as they are altruistic, would like that, as well.
“For Miles, it’s part of the Duke tradition; we have to fight for him,” Duke junior forward Ryan Kelly said. “He’s our leader and the heart of our team. It’s very comforting as a basketball team to be able to look at your senior and know that he is going to be there for you at all times.
“All he wants to do is win. It’s an amazing trait. He’s grown so much even in the time that I’ve known him. He’s really blossoming into a great leader.”
No one knows that better than Mason Plumlee, Miles’ younger brother. A junior for Duke this season, Mason has played alongside his brother in the paint for the Blue Devils, just as they have going back to youth basketball days in Indiana.
Mason Plumlee can’t think of a better way for their time as teammates to end than with success.
“I’m gong to enjoy every minute of it,” said Mason Plumlee, who at age 21 is two years younger than Miles. “It just won’t happen again where we’ll be on the same team. I’m going to enjoy it. We want to enjoy it (while) winning. There’s no better way to enjoy it.”
Heading into today’s nonconference game with St. John’s (12:03 p.m., ESPN), No. 8 Duke has had its usual share of success this season. The Blue Devils (17-3, 5-1 ACC) share the lead in the league standings.
Miles Plumlee may or may not be in the starting lineup today against the Red Storm because of individual matchups St. John’s presents. Earlier in his career, that might have been a problem for Miles.
“In the past, I’ve tended to get down on myself,” Miles Plumlee said. “But this year, even when I was out of the starting rotation, I felt like I was playing my best ball. I just want to be there for my teammates, and when I’ve played like that, I’ve played a lot better.”
A 6-10 forward, Miles Plumlee is averaging 6.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He has started seven of Duke’s 20 games, including the past two.
While Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Miles Plumlee has been a “solid contributor” all four years, he said his play in recent weeks has been even better.
“Since Christmas, I think his play has even gone up and he has emerged as a leader,” Krzyzewski said. “Everybody on the team believes in Miles and respects him, and I think he feels that.
“I see him finishing strong, because he’s all about the team and that’s why everyone respects him.”
Miles Plumlee points to Zoubek as a kindred spirit. At this point of the 7-1 Zoubek’s senior season, he had started only twice. But Krzyzewski moved him into the lineup for a Feb. 13, 2010, game with Maryland while Miles Plumlee became a reserve.
Zoubek scored 16 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and never left the lineup as Duke rolled the national championship.
Miles Plumlee said he’s talked with Zoubek this season and, thinking back to 2010, that’s caused him to play with less inhibition.
“He had had ups and downs in his career, really, until the second half of his senior year,” Miles Plumlee said. “I was really, really impressed with his attitude. He was always kind of tentative. But when you know this is all you have left, just go and let it hang out there.”
Mason also has become a sounding board for Miles, something that wasn’t always the case for the brothers. That changed when they left their hometown of Warsaw, Ind., to attend high school at Christ School in the western N.C. town of Arden.
“Growing up it was ultra-competitive,” Miles said. “We weren’t really the best of friends. In high school, we definitely started becoming better friends. Now as we’ve gotten to Duke, we are each other’s best friends.
“I go to him when I don’t understand — ‘Why am I not doing this right?’ We just help each other out as much as possible. It’s been the best for me.”
While Miles Plumlee has made a team-best 74.1 percent of his shots this season, Duke has come to rely on him for defense and rebounding. Those, not coincidentally, are the top traits Zoubek brought to the court two years ago.
“He does so much for our team,” Kelly said. “For whatever minutes Miles is in there, he’s going to the boards as hard as he can. He’s defending as hard as he can. He’s talking. He’s controlling our defense, anchoring our defense. In a way, it’s similar to Zoubs.”
If Miles Plumlee can finish his career in the same fashion as Zoubek, that would make everyone in Duke blue happy.
