Duke Blue Devils freshman star Jabari Parker was benched in the second half of the team's 79-77 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday night in South Bend, Indiana, an unfamiliar situation for the sensational forward widely considered as among the top two picks in next year's NBA Draft.
Asked why he chose not to play his best player, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told SportingNews.com: "He wasn't playing well. For any kid who is not playing well, you should try to find a kid that is playing well. But that happens. Sometimes kids don't play well throughout the game. He just wasn't having a good game."
Parker was averaging 21.4 points and 8.0 rebounds prior to the game but shot 2-of-10 from the floor, including 1-of-5 on 3-pointers. He scored four points, grabbed only four rebounds and committed two turnovers. He played 24 minutes, and marked the first game in which he did not score in double figures. He was pulled out of the game with 3:35 left in the second half.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said his team should be given credit for limiting Parker's production. "We had a lot of different guys on him," he said. "I think it was a great team awareness of him. I wish we could have used some of that on Hood, quite frankly, because he was unbelievable. I think the team job we did on Parker ... helped because you wouldn't be able to absorb two guys going off. Those two guys go off a lot when they win. Only one went off."
"Well, he is a human being," Krzyzewski said. "He didn't play well today; that is part of being a freshman. Hopefully he will recover quickly from that."
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